New Elementary 
Agriculture 



BESSE-5 


r-BRUNER-SWJEZEY 


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The University Publishing Company 




Class __^^4^tl—^ 
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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



NEW ELEMENTARY 
AGRICULTURE 

FOR RURAL AND GRADED SCHOOLS 



AN ELEMENTARY TEXT BOOK DEALING WITH THE 

PLANTS, INSECTS, BIRDS, WEATHER, AND 

ANIMALS OF THE FARM 

BY 

CHAS. E. BESSEY 

Professor of Botany. University of Nebraska 

LAWRENCE BRUNER 

Professor of Entomology, University of Nebraska 

G. D. SWEZEY 

Professor of Astronomy, University of Nebraska 



LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 

THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO. 

1903 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 


Twr Copies 


Receivec 


OCT 5 


'903 

XXc. No 


Copyiifefit 
CLASS ^ 


' L (:> ^ 


^ L 


COPY 


a. 



Copyright, 1Q03 

The University Publishing Co. 

Lincoln, Neb. 



CONTENTS 

Page 
CHAPTER I 

What is a Plant and What is It Doing? ... i 

CHAPTER H 
How THE Farmer can Use the Plant . ' . . . i8 

CHAPTER HI 
Different Classes of Farm Plants .... 27 

CHAPTER IV 
The Important Farm Crops 39 

CHAPTER V 
The Insects of the Farm ...... 51 

CHAPTER VI 
Useful Insects 57 

CHAPTER VII 
Harmful Insects . . . . . . . . 70 

CHAPTER VIII 
Birds 100 

CHAPTER IX 
Other Wild Animals 118 

CHAPTER X . 

The Weather of the Farm 122 

iii 



iv CONTENTS 

Page 
CHAPTER XI 

The Wind 130 

CHAPTER Xn 
Cloudy and Rainy Weather . . . • , . 136 

CHAPTER Xni 
Storms , . • 140 

CHAPTER XIV 
Weather Predictions 142 

CHAPTER XV 
The Soil i47 

CHAPTER XVI 
Domestic Animals of the Farm 157 

CHAPTER XVII 
Cattle . 167 

CHAPTER XVIII 
Swine 182 

CHAPTER XIX 
Sheep .... 188 

CHAPTER XX 
How TO Care for Live Stock ...... 192 



INTRODUCTORY 

Nebraska is an agricultural state. The products of 
her soil are the basis of her industries and her prosperity. 
The children of our great state of Nebraska should be 
familiar with our crops, our grains and grasses, our 
flowers and fruits, our trees and shrubs and weeds, our 
domestic animals and birds and insects. Our children 
should have a practical knowledge of the management 
of a farm, of the composition of the soil, and of the 
adaptability of the farm and its soil for the cultivation 
of certain plants and the counter effect of such plant 
growth upon the soil. The children of Nebraska should 
love nature, they should be taught nature's ways and 
means, taught to observe her phenomena closely and in 
such a manner that they will learn to love her. Nearly 
all industries of mankind have their origin in the soil, 
and children should be led to see the relation between 
farm labor and its products and the marts of trade 
and commerce. 

Much of the work of the school, including instruction 
in geography, arithmetic, science, and literature might 
be correlated profitably with instruction in agriculture 
and nature study. A school garden with the actual 
work intelligently directed might prove an inspiration 
to honest toil and better living. As the effect of teach- 
ing vocal music daily in the schoolroom is felt in the 
church, the Sabbath. school, in society, and in all public. 



viii INTRODUCTORY 

gatherings, so the teaching of agriculture and nature 
study will affect and improve every farm and garden 
and lawn and fiower-box in the neighborhood. The 
attractions of farm life may be thus enhanced and the 
exodus to the city diminished. 

Instruction in agriculture, properly presented, will 
increase interest in school life and in farm life. The 
care of stock, the protection of insectivorous birds, the 
preservation of game, the engineering of the farm, the 
great physical universe, will appeal directly to the 
boys, and the domestic science, including preservation 
of fruit and dairying and rural economy, will interest 
the girls. The farm is the groundwork, the backbone, 
the sinew, of our health, our wealth, our happiness. It 
must remain so. Keep close to nature for physical, 
intellectual, and spiritual strength and growth. 

The school laws of Nebraska require teachers "to 
pass a satisfactory examination in the elements of agri- 
culture, including a fair knowledge of the structure and 
habits of the common plants, insects, birds, and quad- 
rupeds," for second-grade county certificates and all 
grades above the second. This book has been prepared 
and published in answer to the direct demand resultant 
from the law quoted above. We believe that the art 
of thinking, of reasoning, and of higher and better liv- 
ing can have no higher source and no more pronounced 
results in any line of school instruction than where 
children are taught to look "through nature up to 
nature's God. " 

The manuscript has been prepared by Dr. Charles E. 
Bessey, Professor G. D. Swezey, Professor Lawrence 



INTRODUCTORY ix 

Bruner, and Professor H. R. Smith of the University 
of Nebraska, and Professor R. W. Thatcher of the 
University of Washington. Dr. Bessey and Professor 
Swezey prepared the copy on the " Plants of the Farm. " 
The chapters on the "Weather of the Farm" were 
also prepared by Professor Swezey. Professor Bruner 
prepared the chapters on the " Insects and Birds of the 
Farm," Professor Smith the chapters on the "Domestic 
Animals of the Farm," and Professor Thatcher the 
chapter dealing with the "Soils. " 

The illustrations have been drawn from various 
sources, credit being especially due several government 
publications and the work of C. V. Riley. Credit is 
also due to Gray's "How Plants Grow," published by 
the American Book Company for cuts which have been 
reproduced. 

William K. Fowler, 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
Lincoln, Nebraska, August i, 1903. 

Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 
Superintendent W. K. Fowler, Lincoln, Nebraska: 

In reply to your letter I have to say that your propo- 
sition to have a book written along the lines of elemen- 
tary agriculture for the use of the schools of Nebraska 
is well timed. It will meet a want that has been very 
pressing. If we could have school-teachers informed 
along these lines it would be a great pleasure to them 
and a great benefit to their pupils, and would train young 
people in the direction of the studies that will control 



X INTRODUCTORY 

their life work. There should be a universal demand 
for such a publication. The gentlemen who are to 
write it are well known to the educators and scientists 
of the country, and stand high in their respective 
specialties. I bespeak a very cordial reception for the 
publication when it is issued. 

Very truly yours, 

[Signed] James Wilson, 

Secretary. 



THE PLANTS OF THE FARM 



CHAPTER I 

WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 

- The farmer is the man upon whom we must mainly 
depend to feed the world. We cannot take food from 
the earth. We may fish a little of it out of the sea; 
we may find a few things that we like growing wild ; but 
the grain, the fruit, the vegetables, the pork and beef — • 
in fact, about everything we care to eat — must come from 
the farm. The farmer then must know how to raise 
the plumpest kernels of wheat, the tenderest meat, the 
finest fruit and vegetables, and how to raise the most of 
them, if he would do his part in furnishing the vast 
supply of food which the world needs; and he will do 
this all the better if he understands something of that 
wonderful process by which the minerals of the soil, 
and the gases of the air, and the water in the falling 
raindrop are brought together and built up into food 
for man and beast. 

For the farmer cannot mix together the minerals and 
the water and the air and make out of them anything 
good to eat. True, there are a few things that we eat 
which come from the mineral world; but these, like salt 
for example, are after all not really foods; they may 
season our food, but they cannot feed us. All our food, 

I 



2 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

everything that can really nourish us, comes from plant 
life. Even the beef and mutton and pork, yes, even the 
fish of the river, have to feed on plants in order to fur- 
nish us food. 

Plants Alone can Manufacture Food. — The farmer 
then must first of all make friends with the plant ; for the 
plant must be his chief helper, in feeding the world. 
He must, also, as we shall see, make friends with the 
sunshine and the soil, and even with the birds and the 
insects, for they, too, can help him somewhat; but the 
plant must be his right-hand man ; for the plant can do 
what no one else in the world can do, not even man 
himself; it can take the minerals and the water of the 
soil, and the gases of the atmosphere, and build them up 
into starch and sugar and other things that go to make 
our food. The chemists have tried to put together 
these materials and construct food products out of them, 
but they have not yet succeeded; perhaps they will 
some day, but at present the only known way in which 
any of the foods of man or beast can be constructed, is to 
put a seed into the ground and let the growing plant, with 
the aid of the sunshine, build and store up for us in its 
own tissues the food which alone can nourish our bodies. 

What the Plant is Trying to Do. — Let us see, then, 
how the plant does this wonderful thing which it alone can 
do. Let us trace its life history from the time it is a 
tiny seed until it is a full-grown plant, bearing somewhere 
about it, in the kernel perhaps, or in its root, a supply of 
food for man or beast. What is a plant anyway, and 
what is it trying to do? For a plant is a living thing 
just as truly as a man, and it has a purpose of its own 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 



to accomplish just as much as the farmer has; and its 
purpose is not so very different, either, from that of an 
intelligent and prudent man. It has two main objects 
in life: first, to make a living for itself; and second, to 
provide something for its offspring so that they may 
get a fair start in life when the parent plant is dead and 
gone. For the plant is a living thing; it must eat and 
drink and breathe ; it almost seems as if it could think 
and plan for itself. 

How the Young Plant Gets its Start in Life.— And 
so we will begin with the seed, and see what the parent 
plant has done for it and what it can do 
for itself. The seed is generally a tiny 
young plant with a supply of food laid up 
for it to feed upon until it is old enough to 
get a living for itself. Take a kernel of 
corn and pull away the skin which covers 
the hollow on one side of the kernel. 
Under it lies the young plant, or germ, con- 
sisting of a leaf or two, not thin and green 
as they will be when they have grown up 
into the sunlight, but thick 
and plump and yellow. 
The rest of the kernel is 
mostly starch and gluten, 
which make very good food 
Fig. I. The germ for the youug plant. When 

in a kernel of com. . . 

the seed is put mto the 
ground the germ feeds on this rich store of food which 
the parent plant has provided; its little leaves rapidly 
grow upward to the air and sunshine, while its roots as 





Fig. 2. The 
corn germinat- 
ing. 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



(TJ 

Fig. 3. . The 
bean split to 
show plantlet. 



rapidly push downward into the soil in search of food 

and drink, and by the time the store of food is all used 

up the Httle plant is able to get its own Hving. 

Examine the bean. Here the seed — that is, the germ — 

can be split into halves. These are the first two 

leaves of the young bean-plant joined together at the 
base by a very short stem. Between them 
you will find another tiny leaf or two which 
will also push their way up into the air 
when the bean is planted. Now, the first 
pair of leaves, that is, the halves of the 
bean, are so thick and white because they 
are full of food stored in them by the 

parent plant for the purpose of feeding the growing 

plant. When the bean is planted, these two plump 

leaves will come up out of the ground and will then 

gradually yield up their extra store of food for the larger 

growth of the other little leaves and of the root until, 

as before, the plant is 

strong enough to get its 

own living out of the 

soil and the air. In 

the corn, then, the seed 

consists of a germ with 

food stored around it 

in easy reach, while in 

the bean the whole seed 

is the germ with the 

food stored in it; that 

is, in the first pair of ^ 

leaves. F1G.4. The bean germinating. 



;tM& 




WHAT IS A PLAN'l' AND WHAT IS JT DOINCi? 5 

Now the Young Plant Must Make its Own Liv- 
ing. — After a little the young plant will have used up its 
store of nourishment and must shift for itself. Like the 
young man starting out in life, it must take up seriously 
the problem of making a living, and it must manage to get 
its food out of the soil and the air. This the plant 
cannot do alone any more than man can. It must have 
the help of the sun. While it was living on the rich food 
which the parent furnished it, the young plant did not 
need the help of the sun. It could grow in a dark cellar, 
as the sprout of the potato often does. But building up 
food out of mineral matter and water and the gases of 
the atmosphere is not so easy a matter, just as the 
young man sometimes finds that it is not so easy to 
make a living after the money which his father gave him 
to start with is all spent. 

How the Sunshine Helps. — The only force that can 
put together the minerals and the water of the soil and 
the gases of the air so as to form starch or sugar or any 
similar food product is the sunshine, and the only 
workshop in which this can be done is the green part of 
a plant. So we see how the farmer must make friends 
of both the plant and the sunlight if he would succeed 
in his task of raising something to eat. We do not know 
yet just how the sunshine manages to combine the 
materials which it has to use so as to form starch or 
sugar or other foods, but we do know that starch is 
composed of three elements which are plentifully found 
in the earth and air. These elements are carbon, oxygen, 
and hydrogen. Carbon is a black, solid substance; a 
lump of hard coal is mostly carbon; there is, also, plenty 



6 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

of carbon in the atmosphere, existing in a gaseous form, 
combined with other elements. Oxygen and hydrogen 
are also gases, and water is nothing but these two gases 
combined and condensed into a liquid. But no one can 
take a piece of coal and mix it with water and make 
starch out of it. Nor can he get the carbon out of the 
air and combine it with water any easier. And the 
plant is as helpless as we are about it except there come 
to its aid the power of the sunshine And the sunlight 
can accomplish no more than the rest of us unless it 
finds the necessary materials in the right place; it can 
do nothing at all with them when the water vapor and 
the carbon gases are floating about in the atmosphere; 
it can do nothing with them if it finds them in the 
ground; it is only when the plant has brought them 
together in its own green leaves that the sunshine can 
act upon them. And so the leaf is a loose, porous tissue 
into which the gases find their way; and the stem of 
the plant is a sort of pump to bring up the water from 
the soil into the leaves. Now, when the sun shines 
upon a leaf with the water and the gases in it, the sun 
can do its work ; it can build up these materials into food 
for plant and man. 

Why are the leaves put so high up that the plant has 
to pump water up to them? Evidently because they 
must be up in the sunshine or else the sun could not do 
its work. Why are they so thin and flat? Because 
there must be plenty of chance for the gases to get into 
them and for the sunshine to fall upon them. Why are 
there so many of them? If one could take all the 
leaves of a great tree and spread them out on the ground, 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 7 

they would probably cover several acres, but on the 
living tree they are all bunched together so that the 
tree does not take up very much room while yet the 
atmosphere and the daylight can get to the leaves; 
the same is true of a field of wheat or corn. Evidently 
this is a wise contrivance to enable the plant and the sun- 
shine to construct a great deal of food in a small space. 
If the plant generally had thick leaves and only a few of 
them, as some plants do, or if the leaves were spread out 
in one great sheet, our farms would hardly be big enough 
to raise enough to eat. And why do most plants and 
trees lose their leaves in autumn and get new ones in 
the spring? Because during the winter it is too cold 
for the plant to build up any food, and so it has no use 
for leaves. In the tropics most plants are evergreen; 
that is, they keep their leaves all the year around because 
it is warm enough for them to be at work throughout the 
whole year. 

How the Plant Stores up its Food. — ^But if the plant 
food is built up in the leaves only, how does it get to the 
stem or other parts of the plant, where it is needed for 
growth, or to the seed or root, where it is wanted for 
storage? It must first be turned into sugar and other 
substances which will dissolve in the sap and thus be able 
to pass into other parts of the plant ; and so this quantity 
of plant food which the sun is making in the leaves of 
the growing corn is first converted into sugar, and other 
soluble substances, then dissolved into sweet sap and 
carried off where it is wanted. The stem of the 
growing corn, as every farmer's boy knows, is full 
of sweet sap. In fact, most plants have a sweet tooth, 



8 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

and their growing tissues are mainly fed on this supply 
of sugar. 

But not all of this sugar is used immediately in the 
growth of the plant ; some of it will be stored up for later 
use in the root or in the seed or somewhere else in its 
tissues, and it is just here that the plant can be of so 
much use to the farmer; this food which it has stored 
up for its own use is not only good for the plant to feed 
upon, but for the food of man and beast as well. In 
short, the plant, and the plant alone, can build up from 
the lower world of mineral matter the food which can 
supply its own needs ; and then the animals and man can 
use the same plant food to sustain their own higher life. 

Now, let us see how cleverly the plant manages this 
matter of storing up food. Although it is sugar in the 
sap mainly that plants feed upon, it would hardly do to 
store up food in the form of sugar. It would be too 
easily dissolved and wasted. The plant has no dry bin 
or cellar in which to store its products. That is where 
the farmer may help the plant. Yet the plant in a wild 
state cannot help itself; it cannot build a dry granary 
in which to store its food. So having first manufactured 
a lot of sugar which can be dissolved and carried from 
the leaves to the proper parts of the plants, it now 
turns the sugar back into starch or some other insoluble 
form in order that it may not be dissolved and wasted. 
For starch and sugar, although they seem so different, 
are chemically very much alike. They are composed of 
the same elements, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and 
the plant is chemist enough to change the sugar into 
starch or the starch i;ito sugar according to its needs. 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 9 

So a grain of wheat is mostly a mass of starch, as dry and 
hard and compact as the plant knows how to make it. 
And so is a grain of oats, only the latter is still further 
protected by a tough, dry hull wrapped around it. 
Truly the parent plant has made the best provision it 
could for this little package of starch. Now, if the farmer 
comes along and stores in it a dry granary, so much the 
better. But the wheat plant would not like to depend 
upon that , for in the wild state the grain would have had to 
lie out on the ground in the winter in order to sprout in the 
spring; and it can do this if necessary without much 
danger of harm. But plainly it would not have been a 
good plan to leave the food stored in the condition of 
sugar instead of starch, for it would easily be wasted 
away and lost. 

What the Flowers are For. — The plant has germi- 
nated and grown and reached maturity; it has made a 
living for itself, and has even laid up something for the 
future. It must now attend to the other duty of its 
life; it will soon grow old and die, so it must bear 
seeds in order that its race may not perish from the 
earth; and this is, perhaps, the most wonderful part of 
the plant's life and growth. For the purpose of produ- 
cing seeds, the plant must go through the flowering pro- 
cess. Perhaps we think of flowers as something made 
chiefly to be beautiful rather than useful; but in plant 
life as in human life it is more important to be useful 
than to be beautiful, and so the flower is not primarily 
made to look handsome, but because its beauty, as we 
shall see, can be made very useful in the development 
of the seeds of the plant. 



10 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




What then do we mean by a flower, and what has it 
to do in the production of seeds? The essential parts 
of a flower are two : the pistil, or the little pod in which 
the young seeds are developed; and the stamens, or little 
sacs which contain the pollen, or yellow dust, which 
must fall upon the immature seeds and fertilize them 
in order that they may be able to grow. Thus in the 

apple-blossom the 
pistil is the young 
apple, the stamens 
are the cluster of little 
slender stalks within 
the flower, each with 
a sac at the end which 
when ripe will shed 
a shower of golden 
dust if you crush it. 
How the Bees Help. — Besides these essential parts of 
the flower there are the beautiful pink and white petals 
which we so much admire ; and well we may, for what is 
there more beautiful or fragrant than an orchard of ap- 
ples or cherries or plums in bloom? And, perhaps, 
we have thought that they were made so attractive 
chiefly to make us glad with their beauty, and have 
forgotten that the flowers are first of all for the plant 
and only secondarily for us. And now we shall see 
what the beauty and fragrance are for; the pollen might 
fall upon the young seeds in the same flower and ferti- 
lize them, but it is better for the plant if they are car- 
ried to some other flower instead. However, the tree is 
rooted in the ground and cannot visit some neighbor 



Fig. 



Section of wild apple-blossom. 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? II 

tree to exchange pollen with it. So here again we have 
another example of that beautiful system of co-opera- 
tion of which we have already seen so much, as we 
have learned how farmer and plant and soil and sun 




Fig. 6. Bees distributing pollen. 



must work together to accomplish what neither of 
them could do alone. What new help can the farmer 
call to his aid to carry the pollen from tree to tree ? It 
must be some one provided with wings and some one 
willing to work. Who then better than the bee? And 
so the bee, coming out of one flower with her head pow- 



12 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



dered with the yellow pollen and flying away to push it 
into another, may think that she is only getting honey 
for her own use, but she is really doing a very important 
and necessary service for the plant, and for the farmer 
and the world as well, by distributing pollen from 
plant to plant. And now we see what the showy pink 
and white blossoms are for, standing out so conspic- 
uously against their back- 
ground of green leaves. They 
are to catch the eye of the 
bee and guide her to her 
work. And we see why 
flowers are generally fra- 
grant, for the bee knows very 
well what that odor means 
long before she can see the 
flowers. And we see why a 
little honey is stored in each 
blossom. If it were not for 
the honey, the bees would 
soon quit their job; and be- 
sides, it is only fair play between the plant and the 
insect, that as the plant gets its pollen carried for noth- 
ing it should at least board the helper while she works. 
How the Wind Distributes the Pollen. — But some 
plants do not depend upon the insects for this service, 
and when they do not, there is no use for showy flowers, 
or fragrance, or honey. For example the corn is not 
ordinarily thought of as having flowers ; yet it does pos- 
sess the essential parts of a flower. The tassel furnishes 
the stamens and in the proper season they shed a per- 




Staminate flower of the 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 



feet shower of 
pollen. And each 
young kernel of 
corn is a pistil 
which is to ripen 
into a single 
seed; each ker- 
nel has a long 
slender tube, the 
silk, reaching 
out to get the 
grains of pollen, 
one silk from 
each kernel of 
the ear. Now 
we see why 
the stamens are 
put at the very 
top of the plant 
instead of close 
to the ovary, as 
they are in the 
apple - blossom ; 
since the corn- 
blossoms have 
neither the 
showy petals 

and penetrating fragrance to attract the bee, nor the 
honey to reward her services, the corn plant must de- 
pend upon some other helper which does not care for 
honey, and this time it is the wind. When the pollen 




Fig. 8. Pistillate flower of the com. 



14 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

sacs are ripe, and just at the same time the silks 
have pushed out their ends from the tip of the 
young ear, the pollen dust may be found for a 
few days flying thick about the field. The tassels 
are high up where they can catch the breeze; or, 
if the wind does not blow, the pollen can at least fall 
upon the ears of the same plant. So the pollen reaches 
the young silks and usually enough of it to fertilize 
almost every kernel in the ear. This is always a critical 
time in the life of the corn plant; sometimes a few days 
of hot, dry winds just at this season will wither up the 
moist tips of the silks before they can catch the pollen, 
and in that case the kernels of corn will not mature; 
and although the stalk and leaves of the corn may be 
green and the plant may look quite thrifty, there will 
be no good ears of corn, and both the corn plant and 
the farmer will feel that their labor has come to naught. 
Giving the Young Plant a Fair Chance. — When the 
young seeds have been fertilized by the pollen, and the 
little germ has been produced, there are just two duties 
which remain for the parent plant to do for its offspring ; 
then its life work will be done, and well done. It must 
lay up the store of nourishment which the young plant 
will need while it is getting roots and leaves of its own, 
and it must, if possible, provide some means by which 
its numerous offspring may scatter themselves about a 
little before they settle down and root themselves to 
the ground where they must ever after remain to fight 
the battle of life. If the seeds feil near together they 
might be so crowded that none of them could get a good 
chance at the sunshine. They will have plenty of strange 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? 



5 




Fig. 9. Seed 
of the milk- 
weed. 



and unfriendly plants to contend with any way, without 
having to struggle with their own brothers for a chance 
to live and grow. 

How the Seeds are Scattered.— Let us notice a few of 
the many devices by which this scattering of seeds is 
accomplished. Every thoughtful farmer boy 
or girl can call to mind a variety of such 
devices. How many plants can you think 
of, or find growing, in which, as in the Cot- 
tonwood or the milkweed, every little seed 
is provided with a tuft of hairs so that it 
may be carried by the wind? How many 
winged seeds do you know where wings 
serve the same purpose as a tuft of hairs? 
In the catalpa, perhaps, you will 
hardly know whether to call it a 
wing or a tuft of hairs; but any way, it serves 
the same purpose. How many seeds do you 
know that are provided with hooks or barbs or 
rough surfaces so that they may cling to the 
clothes of man or to the fleece of animals, and 
so be carried free of charge on their journey 
from the parent plant to 
their new homes? Such 
cases as these are familiar 
to every one who has 
watched attentively the 
growth of plants. Perhaps 
some other modes of travel, 
although equally familiar, 

Fig. 10. Winged seeds of ash, elm, .1 . , 

and maple. may uot havc been thought 





i6 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 





of as designed for this purpose; 
there are the tumbleweeds, in 
which the plant grows stout and 
bushy, its stiff branches making 
the whole plant a loose, round 
ball, which, when the seeds are 
ripe, is torn loose from the 
ground by the wind and goes of ci^ickw^^ 

Fig. II. Seed ^i, • • 4.. 

of bur marigold rollmg across the prairie scatter- 
ing its seeds by the way. 

And thus in a great variety of ways nature has pro- 
vided for the distribution of seeds so that they may 
reach favorable locations in which to strike root and 
grow and again produce their kind. Some plants even 
provide their seeds with the means of burying themselves 
in the ground. Some of the grasses, for example, have 
a seed with a long awn, or bristle, attached. Perhaps 
you did not know what these were for, except that they 
make good darts to throw at your playmates. But 
these long, stiff bristles twist up when dry and straight- 
en out when wet; so when they fall in the tangled 
grass every successive drying and moistening pushes 
the sharp pointed seed into the ground until it has 
planted itself. 

Surely these are wonderful contrivances in which the 
plant first looks out for its own life and then provides 
for its offspring. What more could any little plant 
ask than that it be sent out into the world on the wings 
of the wind, dropped where it will have room to grow, 
sometimes even pushed down into the warm earth, pro- 
vided at the outset with food enough to last until it 



WHAT IS A PLANT AND WHAT IS IT DOING? \^ 

can make its own living, the food well selected and well 
preserved and commonly packed in a nearly waterproof 
case. Even the tastes of the young plant are not for- 
gotten. We have seen that although plants like best of 
all the sweet sugar of the sap for their food, it was 
rather necessary that the parent plant should convert 
it from sugar into starch for safe storage. But we are 
not quite at the end of this wonderful, true story; the 
little plant is to have its sugar after all; in fact, it could 
not possibly eat the starch. When the grain is softened 
by the warm moist soil in the spring, the first thing that 
will happen will be that the starch is again turned back 
into sugar; again it will be dissolved into sap, and in this 
condition will be carried up to feed the tissues of the 
growing plant. It certainly does almost seem as if the 
plant was not only a living thing, but that it could even 
think and plan. Any way, if it cannot, the wise Creator 
must have done a great deal of thinking for it. 



CHAPTER II 
HOW THE FARMER CAN USE THE PLANT 

Now that we have learned what the plant is trying to 
accomplish in the world for itself and its offspring, we 
can better understand how the farmer may use the plant 
to further his own ends — the feeding of himself, his do- 
mestic animals, and the world. 

In the first place, he will choose carefully among the 
many plants which he might use, those which will best 
serve his purpose; then he will try to improve these 
plants so that they will be still more useful; and finally, 
he will assist the plant in every way he can, by giving 
it a suitable soil in which to grow, by enriching the soil 
itself with such fertilizers as the plant will like best and 
thrive most upon; he will take the side of the plant in 
its struggle with insect enemies and with other plants 
which would, if they could, crowd it out of the field 
or choke its healthy growth ; he will keep the soil in good 
condition about it so that its roots may get as much 
moisture as they need; he will even turn physician 
if necessary, and by spraying the plant with various 
mixtures, will help it to combat some of the diseases 
to which it may be subject. In short, he will help the 
plant to make the most of itself in every way he can. 
All this calls for a great deal of thought and care on the 
part of the farmer, and for a good knowledge of the plant 
and its needs. 

i8 



HOW THE FARMER CAN USE THE PLANT 1 9 

What Crops to Grow. — Plants are as different from 
each other as people are; probably more so; in fact, they 
may almost be said to have dispositions of their own. 
Some plants seem bent mainly upon making a living 
for themselves; others seem to be more concerned in 
giving their offspring a start in life. The former grow 
plenty of stem and leaves of their own, but they pro- 
duce very small seeds. In such cases, however, they 
often produce a prodigious number of them. They seem 
to go on the plan of living well themselves and pro- 
ducing enough seeds so that even if the most of them 
do die, yet probably somehow there will be enough of 
them that will manage to live that the family name 
will not be cut off from the earth. Naturally such 
plants would not be the kind the farmer would choose; 
their little seeds would be too poorly provided with food 
to serve his purpose. Other plants produce but modest 
stalks of their own, just enough to support the seeds 
and to supply them with abundant nourishment and 
give them a good start in life ; such plants often produce 
but few seeds, so that every one of them may be well 
provided for. One of the noblest is the Indian corn; 
commonly a stalk will not undertake to bear more than 
one or two ears, just what it can well mature, but what 
great magnificent seeds the kernels are, in which each 
little seed, as we have seen, is embedded in a rich mass 
of food; a royal crop indeed is the corn. So is the wheat 
and the rye, and so would the oats and barley be were it 
not that they are so anxious for the safety of their seeds 
that they take the extra precaution of wrapping them 
in a hard, indigestible shell. The horses and cattle do 



20 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

not mind this, but it is rather too much trouble to get 
these hulls off for us to make much use of them for 
human food. 

Equally rich in provision for their offspring are most 
of the vegetables from the garden. Pirst among these 
is the potato, with its huge tubers of starch for the 
young plants to feed upon when the tubers are planted 
in the spring. Naturally such plants as these have 
been chosen by the farmer as his allies and helpers in 
the business of food-production. 

Varieties can be Improved. — In the second place, it 
has been possible to greatly improve the farm crops in 
just the way that they are already so good. Let us 
remember that the part of the plant in which the farmer 
is chiefly interested is not generally the stem or the leaf. 
All he cares about these parts is that they be vigorous 
enough to enable the plant to grow a large rich kernel 
or fruit, or some other part in which food products are 
stored. Having found some plant which tended in the 
first place to grow large kernels or luscious fruit, men 
have been trying ever since these plants were discovered 
in their wild state to make them grow still fatter kernels, 
or larger, sweeter fruits. This can be done, partly by 
fertilizing the soil and by proper cultivation, but more 
yet by selecting for seed the most promising varieties, 
so that we may get better and better kinds of grains and 
vegetables and fruits. 

How the Farmer can Help the Plant. — Now, when the 
farmer has found a noble species of plant to grow 
in his fields, and has gotten a choice variety of it, it is his 
business to give the plant every assistance in his power 



now THE FARMER CAN USE THE PLANT 2 1 

in making the most of itself. He must plow the ground 
deep so that its roots may find a loose soil in which they 
can easily push their way down where moisture is 
plenty; he must plant the seeds at the right time and 
at the right depth; he must know how thickly to seed 
the ground so that the plants may fully occupy the 
soil and use all the moisture that it can furnish, and yet 
not so thickly that they will crowd each other for room ; 
he must kill the weeds that start, especially at the very 
outset of the season, when the crop is young and feeble. 
If his plants have gotten a good start the weeds will not 
matter so much. It would be only a waste of time to 
kill the weeds in the cornfield after the com has reached 
a good height. It will then be able to take care of itself 
and a few weeds struggling for a living in the shade of 
the cornstalks will not am.ount to much, and will event- 
ually be plowed under to enrich the soil for another year. 
Breaking the Crust to Keep in the Moisture. — But 
the farmer must cultivate the soil for another reason 
than merely to kill weeds, and that is to keep the mois- 
ture in the ground as much as possible for the use of 
the crop. When it rains on a cultivated field, a little 
crust forms as the ground dries off and this porous 
crust acts much as a wick does in a lamp; it sucks the 
moisture up from the ground and lets the sun and the 
wind dry it out and carry it off and waste it ; if now this 
surface crust is broken up by the harrow or cultivator, 
even if there is not a weed to be seen, it is a great help 
to the growing plant; for the moisture in the soil, find- 
ing a thin layer of loose, dry dirt on top, cannot escape 
up through it to the air above, and so it remains in the 



22 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

soil down where the roots of the plant can find and use 
it. This surface cultivation after each rain for the pur- 
pose of breaking up the crust and leaving it like a loose 
mulch that keeps the moisture down is especially impor- 
tant in a region like Nebraska, where the sun and the 
wind have such a drying effect. 

What is a Weed? — Of course one of the best ways 
in which the farmer can assist the plant is bv keeping 
down the weeds which might get the better of it. The 
weed, like any other plant, has its own ends to gain. 
It, too, is trying to make a living and to provide for its 
offspring. Commonly the strong point with a weed is 
the getting of its own 'living, rather than the making 
of any very generous provision for its offspring. In fact, 
by a weed we generally mean, not a vicious sort of a 
plant, that stings us or poisons us, not always an ugly 
plant, for some of the weeds have very beautiful flowers; 
a weed is any particularly vigorous plant which is abun- 
dantly able to look out for itself, but generally lays up 
such little provision for its offspring that it would not be 
of much use for the farmer to encourage it for any food 
products which he could get out of it. So he prefers to 
take sides with the corn and the wheat and the potato, 
rather than with the purslane or the pigweed, or even 
with the wild morning-glory with its beautiful blossoms. 

Habits of Different Weeds. — And yet the weed, be- 
cause it is so well able to take care of itself, is not a 
plant for the farmer to make light of. Commonly it is 
a foeman worthy of his steel. Let us take a few familiar 
examples and see how it is that weeds are such vigorous 
contestants in the struggle for existence with the farmer 



HOW THE FARMER CAN USE THE PLANT 



23 



and his crops; and we shall discover, too, a great variety 
of devices which different weeds have for getting the 
better of their rivals in the field. 

Some of them, like the quick-grass and the wild morn- 
ing-glor}^, or bindweed, are almost impossible to kill 
out by any ordinary process of weeding; not because 
they are so numerous, for they produce but few seeds, 
so that we do not have a whole carpet of young plants 
covering every furrow and ridge after a rain, as we do of 
some kinds of weeds ; but because when one of these morn- 
ing-glory seeds gets a start, it rapidly spreads in all direc- 
tions, covering the ground with its tangled mass of cling- 
ing vines ; and it is able to do this mainly because it has 
a peculiar kind of underground branches which hide 
away out of your sight : slender white branches which bur- 
row in the ground where you cannot well get at them ; 
branches without green leaves and which, therefore, could 
not make a living for themselves and would 
quickly perish were they not fed by the 
living plant above. These underground 
branches spread in all directions, striking 
root here and there and sending up numer- 
ous other branches to add to the tangle of 
vines above ground. It does not do much 
good to clip off the plant with a hoe nor 
even to pull it up, for you cannot pull up 





Fig. 13. Underground stem of quick -grass. 



24 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

with it its numerous underground branches; these 
remain unharmed and will quickly send up new vines 
to replace the old. It is of no use even to tear to pieces 
the underground plant with a cultivator, for unless 
you can actually get it out, root and branch, you have 
only broken up a single plant into a number of separate 
plants, each capable of living and sending up new 
leafy vines. 

Another vigorous grower, and one of the most 
troublesome of weeds, is the purslane plant, so that to 
be "as mean as pusley" has become a byword. Did 
you ever stop to consider the points in its make-up 
which give the purslane its staying qualities? You 
will find that it lives and thrives in a very different 
way from that in which the bindweed does. The pur- 
slane is a hot-weather plant, and does not get in its work 
until the season is well advanced, and it does not need to. 
It has a thick juicy stem covered with a tough skin, so 
that while other plants wilt and wither under a scorching 
sun, the purslane does not even feel thirsty. Again, it 
has a habit of bushy, spreading growth which well 
shades the ground and keeps the moisture in it; it is 
always damp under a big purslane plant, no matter how 
dry the field may be elsewhere. If you hoe it off at the 
surface of the ground and do not take the precaution 
to turn it bottom side up, it is very likely that its pulpy 
stem will live long enough without drying up to 
strike root again, especially if there should be a 
shower of rain to moisten the ground, so that it goes on 
growing very much as if nothing had happened. Really 
about the only way to be sure you have killed it is to 



HOW THE FARMER CAN USE THE PLANT 2$ 

feed it to the pigs ; and even then if your hoe has happened 
to cut it off a little above the ground, you are pretty 
sure to leave a bud or two on the stump, which, with a 
good root to nourish them, will quickly reproduce a 
new crop which rises to greet you serenely at the next 
hoeing time. Finally, it is a plant which produces a 
prodigious number of seeds. Finding a thrifty purslane 
plant almost as large as a bushel basket, the author once 
made a rough estimate of the number of little seeds it 
bore. Taking as nearly as he could tell one-tenth of the 
whole plant, he counted the number of seed pods on it, 
then broke open a number of them and ^^ 

counted their seeds, so as to get some idea ^^w 

of the average number in each pod. It ^^^ 
was found thus from calculation that the \W 
whole plant must have borne something ^^ 

-, rry • r ir ^'i^G- 14- Many- 

like 100,000 seeds. Try it for yourself seeded pod of 

purslane. 

some time and see what results you get. 
If this number of seeds were planted a foot apart, so 
as to cover the ground with a new crop of purslane, that 
one plant would have seeded more than an acre. Do 
you wonder that the more modest plants of the garden 
need the aid of man in their struggle for existence with 
such an aggressive rival? 

Plant Diseases. — Plants, as well as animals and man, 
are subject to certain diseases, which the farmer ought 
to understand since, in many cases, it is possible for him 
to doctor his crop of plants and vegetables with certain 
spraying mixtures or in other ways to help them to get 
well. Most of such plant diseases are due to the growth 
of a minute fungus in some part of the plant itself; 



26 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

sometimes in the leaves, sometimes in the stem, or it 
may be even in the fruit or the grain. This fungus is 
itself a little microscopic plant, whose tiny seeds or 
spores are easily blown about in the wind. If they 
fall upon a suitable plant and upon the right part of the 
plant, they will germinate and grow, pushing their 
minute branches into the plant itself and feeding upon 
it; perhaps even killing it, or at least producing diseased 
places in it. 

Thus the smut of corn and other grains, which swells 
and distorts the kernels and turns them into a mass of 
black powder, the mildew, which forms whitish patches 
on the leaves of many plants , and the rust , which produces 
reddish spots on leaves and stems, are all species of fungi, 
and they sometimes do considerable damage. Spray- 
ing with various poisonous liquids will kill many of these 
fungi and often it will be worth while for the farmer or 
gardener to do this. Scab on potatoes and apples, 
blight which shrivels up the twigs of fruit-trees, and 
even rot, which affects potatoes and fruits, — these and 
many other diseases are caused by different species of 
fungi, and many of them can be prevented or destroyed 
by understanding their various habits and peculiarities 
and knowing what remedy to apply. 



CHAPTER III 

DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FARM PLANTS 

We have now learned what a plant is and what it is 
trying to do for itself and also how the farmer can use 
it and co-operate with it so as to serve his own ends as 
well as those of the plant itself. We have found that 
different plants possess very different traits and pecu- 
liarities, and have very different and peculiar ways of 
making a living. Let us now see how the different 
habits of plants may be made to furnish the farmer 
not only food, which is the matter of first importance, 
but also fuel and shelter and shade and ornament and 
many other things to make his life more comfortable 
and happy. Almost every class of plants has some 
peculiarity of growth on which it relies mainly to make 
its way in the world. The farmer must know these 
peculiarities and take advantage of them and use them 
to his own betterment. 

The Cereal Grains. — For example, we have already 
seen that the various grains, such as wheat, oats, and 
corn, owe their importance as farm crops to their habit 
of storing a large supply of excellent food in the seed 
itself; this is their strong point ; the young plant, because 
it has been so well provided for by its parents, is able 
to sprout quickly and to make rapid growth at the out- 
set, so that it is apt to get a good start in the race 
for life as compared with seeds which have been only 

27 



28 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

mcagerlv supplied by their parents with nourishment. 
The crop of wheat or oats so quickly covers and shades 
the ground that the weeds get but little chance, hence 
we do not need even to cultivate the ground after the 
seed is planted. It is this large size of the seed, together 
with the excellence of the food stored in the cereal 
grains, that makes them on the whole the most impor- 
tant of the farmer's crops. 

Vegetables.— Most vegetables are useful to the farmer 
because of a very different habit of the parent plant, 
namely, that of storing up food in their own tissues and 
mainly for their own use rather than for their offspring. 
Thus the radish plant for a considerable time seems not 
to be growing much ; it does not form many new leaves 
nor push up a stalk nor send out branches. One might 
be tempted to think that it had no serious purpose in 
life either in the way of doing anything for itself or of 
developing seeds and providing for its offspring; but we 
must be content to let every plant manage its own busi- 
ness in its own way for that way is always best. And 
the way the radish manages is this : it spends its young 
and more vigorous days during the spring and early 
summer in accumulating all that it can and storing it 
in the root so that when it gets ready later in the season 
to attend to the matter of developing flowers and seeds, 
it may have a good supply of food to draw upon for this 
rather exhausting process ; and so when the proper time 
comes it pushes up its stem and puts out its branches 
and its flowers, and finally its seeds, at an astonishing 
rate of speed. Most root crops, as the turnip, parsnip, 
and carrot, do the same thing, except that they usuaUy 



DIFFERENT CLASSES OF P^ARM PLANTS 29 

take two years instead of one to do it in. They spend 
one year in storing up food and the other in developing 
flowers and seeds. Other vegetables use a different 
part of the plant for a storehouse. The lettuce stores its 
supply in a thick tuft of leaves ; the cabbage in the still 
more compact bunch of leaves which we call the head; 




Fig. 15. Section of cabbage. 

the onion in a similar bunch of leaves, developed under 
ground, forming the bulb. 

In all such cases the farmer can take advantage of 
this habit which the plant has of laying up for its own 
use ; if he does not care to gather a crop of seeds from 
his parsnips or carrots or cabbages, he can let the plant 
do the first half of its work and then pull it up and 
so stock his cellar with choice vegetables for the table. 

The potato, perhaps our most important vegetable, is 
useful for a similar reason, only in this case it does not 
store food in the tuber for its own old age, but for its 
offspring. The potato, being in its wild state a native 



30 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



of warmer regions where the ground does not freeze 
much, has adopted a rather peculiar way of propagating 
itself from year to year. Although it produces flowers 
and seeds the same as most plants do (the seeds are 




Fig. 1 6. Potato plant forming its tubers. 



found in little balls which grow at the top of the plant), 
it does not depend much upon these seeds for repro- 
ducing itself; it develops peculiar underground branches, 
whose tips thicken and form the tubers, and it is the 
buds, or eyes as they are called, in these tubers from 
which the new crop will grow. So, wisely, the parent 



DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FARM PLANTS 3 I 

plant stores plenty of food in these tubers for the young 
potatoes to live upon until they can push up above 
ground and develop leaves and branches of their own. 
So when the parent plant dies down in the autumn, 
these underground branches, or tubers, live to reproduce 
the plant another year. In our part of the world, of 
course, the ground freezes too severely during the winter 
for the safety of these tubers, so, as the farmer has brought 
the potato from its warmer native regions to our less 
hospitable climate, of course he must not neglect to 
take up these tubers before the ground freezes, store 
them safely in a cellar over winter, and then put them 
back in the ground again in the spring if he wants to 
grow a new crop of potatoes. Or if he does not need 
them for seed, he may fill his bins with them for sale or 
for eating. 

Forage Plants. — Not only must the farmer provide 
for his own eating, but for that of his domestic animals 
as well; and he must provide suitable food for them, too. 
The cat and the dog and the chickens may get along 
very well on the same kind of food as the farmer does; 
the pig will not be in the least particular about his 
food; almost anything is good enough to suit him; but 
the horse and the cow and the sheep would not thank 
you for the finest of meat or the freshest of eggs, and 
even a loaf of home-made bread or cake would not suit 
them half so well as a bale of hay. Their systems 
require coarse vegetable food; and because it is coarse 
and not very nutritious they must have great quanti- 
ties of it. So the farmer must not forget, along with 
the finer grains and vegetables for his own use, to grow 



32 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

or gather large quantities of forage for his stock. The 
plants which furnish our chief supply of forage are of 
two classes: the clover plants — such as alfalfa, and the 
red and white clover; and the grasses. For the clover, 
although often spoken of as a grass, is evidently a very 
different sort of plant; it is more nearly related to the 
bean or the pea than to the grasses; this will be evi- 
dent if you pick to pieces a flower of the clover and one 
of the bean and compare them. 

The peculiarity of the grasses which makes them 
valuable as forage plants is, that they have come to de- 
pend, in their struggle with weeds and other enemies, 
mainly on growing as a thick sward at the base, in which 
other plants can hardly get a start; and then in order 
that they may not crowd each other to death, they 
have learned to grow tall and slender in their reach 
after sunshine. So their stems and leaves are stout 
and coarse and abundant, just the thing that suits the 
alimentary canal of the horse and cow. If they have 
developed a top full of seeds in which a little richer 
food is stored, so much the better, provided it is 
plentifully mixed with the coarser stems and leaves. 

Fruits. — In some cases'the parent plant has made 
double provision of nutritious matter for the young 
plant, and this device has given us some of our most 
luscious foods, the various fruits. In the apple or pear, 
for instance, not only is the little plantlet packed away 
in a seed which contains nourishment to start the germ 
into growth, but these seeds are embedded in a still larger 
mass of food, the apple itself, which by its decay fur- 
nishes a rich bed from which the growing plant may 



DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FARM PLANTS 33 

get additional nourishment long after the supply in the 
seed is used up. So the farmer may well rescue the 
apple from this use and make it another of the many 
foods with which to feed the world. 

How the Birds Help. — Many of the fruits, as the 
raspberry and the currant, are brightly colored, and 
must be very attractive to birds, too much so, perhaps, 
to suit us; but we may as well make the best of it, 
the plant itself does not object to the birds; the seeds 
found in these bright colored fruits are hard and stony 
and are not destroyed when eaten; they fall unharmed 
to the earth in the droppings of the birds and so are scat- 
tered far and wide from the parent plant. Can we doubt 
that the bright color of the fruit and the stony nature 
of the seeds which is associated with it were intended 
for this very purpose; that they might be discovered 
and eaten by the birds, and thus their seeds scattered 
abroad where they have a better chance of life than if 
they had fallen under the parent tree? So let us not 
find too much fault with the birds, but be thankful 
rather that their tastes are not so different from ours, 
and that the juicy berries and fruits which the parent 
tree has hung out for the birds are equally pleasing to 
us, and make another of the choice products of the 
farm. 

Trees. — There are some other things which the farmer 
needs besides food and drink; he must have fuel and 
shelter; he must build barns and fences and bridges. 
Now, there is one class of plants whose way of getting 
on in the world adapts them very well indeed to fur- 
nishing the farmer just the material which he needs for 



34 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



these purposes. The tree is a plant which depends for 
its success in life mainly on its own bigness. Its scheme 
is to push up so high into the world of sunshine that the 

weeds and other plants cannot 
trouble it. To this end it must 
generally have the means of 
getting a quick start in the 
race; accordingly, many trees 
produce nuts or acorns, which 
are seeds with a particularly 
large and rich supply of food. 
So when the seed germinates, 
the shoot pushes up very rapidly 
and soon overtops its rivals and 
gets the lion's share of the sun- 
shine. Now, since the tree has 
planned to grow so large and 
tall, it will have a new adver- 
sary to battle with; namely, the 
wind. The smaller plants which 
strive to grow in the shade of 
the woods need not trouble 
themselves to form stiff stems, 
and they generally do not. But 
the tree must have a particularly 
stout stem, well hardened with 
woody fiber, and it must bury 
its great roots deep in the soil in 
order to anchor the tree to the 
earth, so that it may stand the 
JSirJn.f.tXn.''°"""°'°'"' Strain of wind and weather. 




36 NEW ELEiMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

What a contrast there is in this respect between a tree 
and the purslane plant, and yet how well each succeeds 
in its own way. The tree insists on outgrowing its 
humbler neighbors and leaving them in the shade. Some 
of them do not mind this, but learn to thrive best in the 
cool and dusky forest ; the tree itself is generally thriftier 
where it is partly shaded by its neighbors; it grows 
slowly and for many years until it is sturdy and strong. 
But the purslane plant, because it cannot get enough 
sunshine where the trees grow, adopts the other alterna- 
tive of making a break for the open ground where there 
is so much sunshine that even a sturdy tree would hardly 
try to live and grow there. The purslane plant by 
developing a weak, pulpy stem, soft and juicy, lives and 
thrives best of all in the scorching sun, because that is 
the life to which it is best adapted. And so the purslane 
would make very poor fuel or timber, but the maple 
and the ash and the oak are just what the farmer wants 
where strength and durability are required. 

Ornamental Plants. — While the plants which have 
thus far been mentioned contribute most to man's life 
and health and comfort, we should not forget that this 
is not all of life, but that the farmer will be a happier 
and probably a better man if he also sees and admires 
and enjoys some of the beautiful things with which the 
world abounds. And we have already learned that many 
plants, for good reasons of their own, have found it worth 
while to be beautiful and fragrant and to welcome and 
shelter the birds with their concerts of song ; so even this 
peculiarity of plant life the farmer may take advantage 
of to make his home more enjoyable and attractive. 



DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FARM PLANTS 



37 



And we shall see, too, that he may not only gather 
about him the beautiful plants with which the world 
abounds, but he may even increase their beauty by 




Fig. 



Wild and cultivated dahlia. 



developing richer and more showy flowers, -just as he 
has improved the useful plants by developing richer 
grains and sweeter berries. Many of the more 
beautiful flowers of the garden have become such by 
reason of the gardener's intelligent selection and culti- 
vation. The wild rose, for example, has but few petals 



38 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

and many ovaries and seeds; for the rose plant was nat- 
urally more concerned with growing good seeds than 
with merely looking well. All that was needed in the 
way of show was just color enough to catch the eye of 
the bee, and win a visit from her, and so manage the 
matter of getting its pollen distributed. But the 
gardener does not care for the rose seeds ; he can propa- 
gate new plants from slips set in the ground. So he 
has used such modes of selection and cultivation that, 
in the finer varieties of the garden rose, nearly all of 
the stamens have been developed into showy petals, 
forming a mass of beautiful color. Never mind if the 
plants have lost their power of producing seeds; seeds 
are very important Sometimes, but here we do not 
care for them; instead, we have gotten something 
that is a joy forever; for what is more beautiful 
in form and color and fragrance than a full-blown 
rose? The farmer may use the habit of compact growth 
which the grasses possess to furnish himself not only a 
meadow, but a lawn. He may use the sturdy habit 
of trees to furnish shade as well as timber. He may 
even combine beauty and usefulness in the fragrance 
and bloom and fruitage of the orchard. He may thus 
make his home not a mere treadmill in which to live and 
work and earn, but a place of beauty and comfort and en- 
joyment as well. And the success of the farmer will de- 
pend not merely upon his own hard work, although there 
must be plenty of that, but also upon knowing how to make 
the most of his partnership with nature, with the soil and 
the sunshine, with the plants and the domestic animals; 
yes, even with the insects and the birds of the farm. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 

Maize (Indian Corn, Corn). — Maize is a south Mexi- 
can plant, which was first cultivated by the inhabitants 
of America nearly if not quite two thousand years ago. 
In the twelfth century its use had spread to the Rio 
Grande on the north, and to Chile on the south. 
Later it was used by the North American Indians as far 
north as the Great Lakes, and the southern coast of 
Maine, while in South America its use had spread into 
Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia. 

It was thus an old cultivated plant when Columbus 
discovered the New World, and among the strange 
sights which he saw were the fields of maize. When the 
Pilgrims came to New England, in 1620, they found 
fields of maize, and the following spring they planted 
it for their own use, being taught how to care for it by 
friendly Indians. 

The name "maize" was introduced into Europe by 
Columbus, who adopted it from the Indians who grew 
it on the islands he visited. As all kinds of edible grains 
(as wheat, oats, rye, barley, etc.) are called "corn" in 
England, it was quite natural that the early English 
settlers should speak of maize as "Indian corn," and 
from this has come the American usage of speaking of it 
simply as "corn." Strictly speaking it is maize, but 
since it is the largest, and perhaps the most important, 

39 



40 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

"corn plant" for this country., it has usurped the name 
' ' corn " for its exclusive use. 

We do not know the wild state of maize, although it is 
thought by some botanists that the tall Mexican grass 
known as teosinte may be wild maize. Teosinte has a 
tassel which closely resembles that of maize, but its 
ears are very slender, and each bears only a few grains, 
in two rows. Possibly the ear of maize came from the 
union of several of these slender ears. At any rate, it is 
interesting to remember that on the ears of maize the 
rows are always even-numbered, as if formed by the union 
of several two-rowed, slender ears. 

During the long time that maize has been under 
cultivation it has become so changed that six spe- 
cies have been produced, namely: (i) Pod-corn, (2) 
Pop-corn, (3) Flint-corn, (4) Dent-corn, (5) Soft- 
corn, (6) Sweet-corn. These again have developed 
numerous varieties, especially in those species which 
have been much cultivated by white people in this 
country. 

In Pod-corn each kernel is surrounded by a little 
husk, and the whole ear also is covered with husks. 
This species is grown with us as a curiosity only. 

In Pop-corn the plants are small, as are the ears 
also, and the kernels are very hard, and when heated 
they suddenly bu-^st open, turning inside out. Twenty- 
five varieties are known. 

Flint-corn is much like the last, the plants and 
ears being rather small, and the kernels very hard. 
However, the kernels are all round-topped, and they do 
not burst open on heating. The ears are commonly 



THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 41 

eigh^-rowed, and are long and slender. There are sixty- 
nine varieties, many of which are grown in the far 
northern states. 

In Dent-corn the plant and ears are larger than in 
any other species, while the kernels are not as hard as in 
flint-corn, and are dented at the top. . The hard, 
horny structure which fills the whole of the flint kernel 
is found only along the edges in the dent, the remainder 
being softer and more granular. The ears are com- 
monly from twelve to twenty-four rowed, and are rough 
on account of the dents on the kernels. Three hundred 
and twenty-three varieties are grown in different por- 
tions of this country. 

In soft-corn the plant is usually small or of medium 
height, and the ears small, and eight to fourteen rowed. 
The kernels have no hard, horny portion, the whole 
substance being soft and granular, and as a consequence 
they may be crushed easily into meal, for which pur- 
pose this species was grown by the southwestern Indians. 
Twenty-seven varieties are known, some of which are 
grown for grinding into white meal. 

Sweet-corn is peculiar in having soft, sweet ker- 
nels, which become tough, horny and shriveled when 
dry. The plants are small, and the small ears are us- 
ually from eight to fourteen rowed, although in some 
large varieties they are from sixteen to twenty or even 
twenty-four rowed. Sixty-three varieties are known. 

When a kernel of maize germinates it first sends out a 
root from the lower end, and then the little roll of leaves 
pushes out some distance above. About this time or a 
little later other roots come out at different places on 



42 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

the side of the kernel. For some time the principal 
work of the roots is to get water for the young plant, 
the kernel containing food enough to last for ten to fif- 
teen days. So the roots grow out rapidly in every 
direction and collect water from the soil. 

Before the food in the kernel is all used the leaves 
must be in condition to make food from the gases in 
the air and the water and solutions taken in by the 
roots. The plants have no difficult}^ in getting all the 
gases they need, but sometimes they do not have enough 
water. 

The manufacture of food takes place only in the green 
leaves; so the larger and more numerous they are, the 
more food they make. Anything which injures the 
leaves reduces the amount of food which the plant 
makes for its use. 

When full-grown the maize plant bears a tassel of 
staminate flowers above, and an ear of pistillate flowers 
on a short side branch. The purpose of the former is 
to produce pollen, while the purpose of the latter is to 
form the kernels. 

In each tassel-flower there are three stamens, each 
containing about 2,500 pollen-cells. In an average- 
sized tassel of the larger varieties there are about 7,200 
stamens, making about 18,000,000 of pollen-cells for 
every plant in the field. 

In each young ear of the larger varieties there may 
be as many as 1,000 kernels, each with its long, thread- 
like style. So there are about 1,000 threads in the 
" silk " of the ear. Each one is somewhat hairy near the 
tip, and this portion is of the greatest importance, as it 



THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 43 

is on it that the pollen-cells must fall and grow in order 
that the young kernels may become fertile. Unless 
at least one pollen-cell germinates on each silk thread 
the young kernel at its base will not develop into a full- 
grown kernel. 

The fertilized kernel soon begins to enlarge, and a 
tiny plant grows on its upper side. While this is taking 
place starch is being packed away in the kernel at the 
side of the little plant. By the time the latter is as large 
as it usually grows in the seed nearly all of the available 
room is filled with starch. The seed is now complete, 
but it is still soft and watery, and the drying out of this 
moisture constitutes the last stage of the ripening pro- 
cess. 

Maize is subject to several diseases, the most serious 
of which is the smut of the ears. This is caused by a 
minute fungus which lives in the tissues of the stem 
and leaves and at length punctures the ears. Here it 
thrives upon the rich food in the young kernels, and 
finally produces its own black spores, which are the 
tiny seeds of this fungus, and constitute the black, 
powdery mass in the affected ears. These spores are 
the means of its propagation, and when these are allowed 
to fall to the ground they infect it, so that next year it is 
almost certain that there will be more smut in case the 
field contains maize. 

Smut may be reduced very much by carefully col- 
lecting and burning all smutted ears. A rotation of 
crops is good as this smut does not affect any of the 
other crops. It does little or no good to soak the seed 
corn in a solution of copper sulphate before planting. 



44 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Wheat. — It is not certainly known where or when 
wheat originated, as it came into cultivation so long 
ago that no records of its first introduction remain. 
Some preserved wheat grains found in Egypt are regard- 
ed as more that 5,000 years old. A low, bearded grass, 
called wild wheat, growing in southern Europe and 
Asia, has been suggested as possibly the wild state of 
wheat, but this has not yet been proved. At any rate, 
we -may say that wheat originated in the Old World, 
probably in that part of it adjoining the Mediterranean 
Sea, or in the region to the eastward. 

Eight specimens of wheat are of interest to us, namely : 
(i) Bread wheats, (2) Club wheat, (3) Poulard wheats, 
(4) Durum wheats, (5) Polish wheats, (6) Spelt, (7) 
Emmer, and (8) Einkorn. These again have given 
rise to many varieties, each adapted to some condition 
of soil, climate, or the particular needs of the community. 

The Bread wheats include nearly all of those kinds 
commonly grown in the United States. The number 
of varieties now known is about one thousand. These 
are classed as, (i) winter wheats, when sown in the 
autumn, and*(2) spring wheats, when sown in the spring, 
and these again into (a) hard, and (6) soft wheats, 
according to the hardness of the kernels. In some 
varieties the heads are bearded (bearded wheats) while 
others are not bearded (smooth wheats). Again, the 
varieties are spoken of as early, or late wheats. 

The soft winter wheats, which vary in color of grain 
from amber to white, require considerable moisture, and 
a mild, even temperature. They are grown from 
Maine to the mountains of Virginia, in western and 



THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 45 

northern Europe, Japan, and portions of China, India, 
Australia, and Argentina. The hard winter wheats, 
which are red-grained and usually bearded, are grown 
where the summers are hot and dry, as in Oklahoma, 
Kansas, northern Missouri, southern Nebraska and 
Iowa, in Hungary and Roumania, southern Russia, 
Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and northern India. Hard 
spring wheats resemble the preceding and grow under 
nearly the same climatic conditions, with, however, 
shorter summers and more severe winters, as in northern 
Nebraska and Iowa, North and South Dakota, Minne- 
sota, northern Wisconsin, central and western Canada, 
east Russia, and southern Siberia. The white wheats 
are adapted to the Rocky Mountain and Pacific states, 
the Caucasus, Turkestan, Chile, and portions of Austra- 
lia. In Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio semi- 
hard wheats are grown, while in the southern state?; 
from Arkansas to Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, 
and Virginia, early varieties of soft or semi-hard wheats 
are preferred. 

A wheat kernel germinates by sending out a little 
root from its more pointed end, and this is followed by 
the stem and leaves which push out from its rounded 
side between the root and the middle of the kernel. 
Other roots grow out later from near the leaves, so that 
the plant soon has a cluster of many roots upon which 
to depend for food. 

In growing, the wheat plant remains single unless it is 
well fed, when it branches (stools) just at the ground, 
forming a cluster of stems. For a long time the stems 
are short, but when they have formed all of their leaves 



46 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

each stem-joint rapidly elongates, so that in a few 
days the whole plant is much taller. The young head 
is all this time on a short stalk deep in the folds of the 
upper leaves. Its stalk now elongates and pushes it up 
into the air. 

The head consists of many scales (chaff) inclosing 
and hiding fifty to one hundred little flowers, each of 
which has three stamens and one pistil (young kernel) 
with two feathery stigmas. These flowers, therefore, 
are perfect, and not of two kinds, as in maize. 

The lower flowers are the first to mature, and then 
open for a few minutes, the stamens and stigmas being 
thrust out. Much of the pollen falls out at this time 
and is carried away by the wind, but enough usually 
remains in each flower to fertilize the young kernel. 
The pollen which blows away may fall on other wheat 
flowers and fertilize them. It takes several days for all 
of the flowers in each head to open and become fer- 
tilized, those at the top being the last. 

The kernel when young is almost globular, but as it 
grows longer and broader its sides are folded backward 
so as to leave a deep crease on its back. When full- 
grown it is filled with closely packed starch, but it is 
still soft and watery, and this surplus water must dry 
out before it is fully ripe. 

Wheat is subject to many diseases, the most common 
of which are smut and rust, which are caused by minute 
fungi which live in the plants. Loose smut attacks and 
destroys the heads, and turns them into naked, black 
stems. Close smut also attacks the heads, but it de- 
stroys only the interior of the kernels, which it turns into 



THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 4/ 

black, fetid masses of spores. Soaking the seed-wheat 
in a solution of copper sulphate just before sowing is 
recommended for preventing these diseases. 

Rust is often found attacking the leaves and stems. 
Early in the season it is red or yellow, and is then called 
red rust, while later it is black, and is then known as 
black rust. Red rust spreads very rapidly from plant 
to plant in the field, but the black rust lives over the 
winter on the straw, and from this the new wheat crop 
is infected. Some varieties of wheat are not often 
attacked by rust, and the sowing of such kinds is the 
best preventive of this disease. 

Oats. — The oat plant appears to have originally grown 
wild in southeastern Europe, where it was first brought 
into cultivation about two thousand years ago. It is 
not now known in the wild state, although there are 
many closely related kinds which grow wild in many 
places in the northern hemisphere. 

By long cultivation we have produced many varieties 
of oats, but these are not as numerous nor are they as 
well marked as in wheat. More than one hundred and 
fifty varieties are grown in the United States. These 
are of two general forms: spreading oats, and side oats; 
and these again may be chaffy, or naked (hulless). 

The germination of the oat grain is very much like 
that of wheat, and the growth of the young plant also 
is quite like that of wheat. When the head appears 
the flowers soon open and the pollen is blown by the 
wind from flower to flower. 

The fertilized young kernel grows quite like that of 
wheat, only here the chaff adheres to it, so that at ma- 



48 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

turity in the common oats the kernel is tightly 
inclosed within the chaff. In huUess oats the chaff 
does not adhere in this way, so that the kernel is free.. 

The diseases of the oat plant are similar to those of 
the wheat. Thus there is a smut which attacks the heads 
and turns them into black masses, the kernels being 
entirely destroyed. This disease is caused by a minute 
fungus much like that which causes loose smut in wheat, 
but it is not exactly the same. The same preventives 
may be used as in wheat. 

The rust attacks the oat plant also, and here again, 
while it looks much like that on wheat it is not exactly 
the same. Wheat rust will not infect oats. Some 
kinds of oats are not as much affected as others, and 
these are the kinds which should be sown. 

Barley.— The barleys originated in the region east of 
the Mediterranean Sea, many centuries ago, certainly 
as long as 2,500 years ago, and perhaps much longer. 
The simpler kinds have been found in a wild state in the 
region mentioned, but not the larger kinds. 

There are three principal kinds of barley, and these 
have probably originated by long cultivation. These 
are known as two-rowed barley, four-rowed barley, and 
six-rowed barley, and these again have produced many 
varieties. In most of the varieties the chaff tightly 
surrounds the kernel, but there are some naked or hul- 
less kinds, just as there are in oats. 

The germination and growth of barley are so much 
like those of wheat and oats that they need not be 
separately described. 

The heads are more like the heads of wheat than oats. 



THE IMPORTANT FARM CROPS 49 

In two-rowed barley there are two rows of kernels up 
and down the head, in four-rowed barley there are four 
such rows of kernels, while in six-rowed barley there are 
six rows. Usually there are long, rough beards on the 
heads, but there are some varieties which have no 
beards. 

The young seeds are fertilized as they are in wheat 
and oats, and the young plant forms and grows in the 
seed quite as the other grains already described. 

The principal diseases are smut and rust, which again 
are much like those in the wheat and oats. The sugges- 
tions already made as to preventives may be repeated 
for the diseases of barley. 

Rye. — Rye is another old plant in cultivation, yet 
it does not extend back as far as many other cultivated 
plants. It appears to have originated in southern and 
southeastern Europe nearly two thousand years ago. 
It is said to have been found recently in a wild state, 
in southern Europe, where it escapes from cultiva- 
tion very easily, which may indicate its original home. 

Rye has not produced many varieties in the course of 
its cultivation. It commonly is cultivated in Europe 
for its nutritious kernels, which are used for human 
food, but in this country it is not much grown, excepting 
for food for domestic animals, and for its long, straight 
straw. 

In its germination, growth, and fertilization it does 
not differ much from wheat, to which it is quite nearly 
related. The kernels have the same structure as those 
of wheat, but they are longer and somewhat more slen- 
der. 



50 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Rye is singularly free from diseases. The one which 
is most common is the ergot, which is produced by a 
minute fungus which attacks the young kernel about 
the time of blossoming. The ergot-fungus at first 
grows on and in the kernel, and then forms a large black- 
ish grain about as thick as a kernel of rye, and several 
times as long. When full grown the ergot grain is an 
inch long, and nearly an eighth of an inch in thickness. 
It is hard and brittle, and of a white color inside. It is 
poisonous to stock and sometimes causes much loss. 



CHAPTER V 

THE INSECTS OF THE FARM 

Insects in General. — We find a great many kinds of 
living creatures about the farm, on the prairies, and in 
the woods. All of these are of interest to us on account 
of their ways of living — some being of use and others of 
harm. To know something about them is of importance 
to the farmer, as well as to all other persons who culti- 
vate the ground for the purpose of growing different 
kinds of plants. Even housekeepers must know a little 
about some kinds of these small animals. 

Many of these creatures have jointed bodies and 
jointed legs and feelers. Some of them are made so as 
to live in water, while others can exist only on land. 
Most people call all of these jointed animals "bugs" or 
"insects. " But those of us who know better have differ- 
ent names for many of them. Only those that have six 
legs when full grown are the ones we call insects. Those 
that have eight legs belong to the spiders and their rela- 
tives, the mites and scorpions. Those that have twelve 
or more legs and that live in damp places or in water are 
called sow-bugs, or more correctly, crustaceans. They 
are the relatives of the cray-fishes and lobsters. The 
many-legged, worm-like creatures should be called 
centipedes, or "many legs. " One of each of these forms 
is shown in this picture so as to help those who do not 
know how to remember them in any other way. 

51 



52 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 20, Insect (caterpillar), spider, myriapod, and sow-bug. 



Of course all of us know a few things about insects, 
as well as about their distant relatives which are men- 
tioned above; but, in order to help others who do not 
know so much about them, we will have to tell some 
additional things concerning them here. 

An insect, besides having six legs, has its body made 
up of three separate parts. These are the head; the 
thorax, or middle part; and the hind portion, or abdo- 
men. Some kinds have wings, but others do not. 
Some jump, a few crawl, and others fly. Some bite off 
and chew what they eat, others only suck the juices or 
sap of plants, or blood of animals. Instead of growing 
larger and larger in a steady way, they shed their skins 
a number of times. Each time this is done they come 
out of their hard old skins covered with soft new ones 
that soon stretch to two or more times the size of the 



THE INSECTS OF THE FARM 



53 



old ones. Most insects, but not all, are also quite differ- 
ent looking when young from what they are after becom- 
ing full grown. The "grub worm" is not at all like 
the June beetle, which lays the egg from which it hatches. 
The caterpillar is very different from the butterfly or 
moth of which it is the young. The "wriggler" in the 
rainwater barrel does not look at all like its parent, the 




Fig. 21. Hackberry butterfly in its different stages. 



mosquito; nor does the maggot resemble the green or 
bluebottle fly that lays its eggs on decaying meat. * 

A number of other things about insects are very differ- 
ent from what we find them in animals like dogs, mice, 
birds, and snakes. An insect does not breath by using 
lungs or its nose, but has little holes placed along the 
two sides of its body through which the air passes in and 
out. Its blood is transparent like water, and is pushed 
through the body by the beating of a large blood vein, 
or artery, which lies along or near its back, instead of 
by a heart. The brain is scattered in knots or bunches 



54 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

along the principal nerve situated near the lower side 
in the middle of the body, instead of being all in its 
head. 

Besides these differences we find that insects' skele- 
tons are on the outside, instead of inside their bodies, 
as we find them in ourselves, birds, and other animals 
which we know. Then, besides, insects have ears and 
eyes only when they really need them. Their ears are 
never on their heads, but may be found on their legs, or 
even on their abdomens. Only those that sing or make 
noises have ears; and one kind makes all its noise with 
its ears. Some insects have two kinds of eyes. These 
are, first, the large compound eyes, as they are called, 
which are composed of a great many small ones, joined 
together so closely as to make them look like simple eyes 
with the surface regularly roughened. When examined 
closely with the microscope these seem to be made of 
little plates which are arranged to look like a piece of 
capped honeycomb. Second, the small simple eyes 
which are placed between the larger or compound eyes, 
either on top of the head, or else in the upper part of the 
face. • One of these little eyes is placed in the middle, 
and the other two are between it and the large eyes, 
but generally above or back of it. They are to see with 
in a different way from that of the compound eyes ; but 
just how we cannot say here. Insects very likely smell 
with their feelers; and in some kinds, perhaps, also with 
their legs or feet. 

Insects, like many other kinds of creatures, are cold- 
blooded, and can stand freezing without being killed. 
A great many kinds live over winter hidden away among 



THE INSECTS OF THE FARM 55 

old grass, under stones, fallen leaves, logs, loose bark, 
and in the ground. In the spring they come out of these 
hiding-places, and move about just as if they never had 
been frozen stiff. Their eggs and young can also freeze 
solid and not be hurt. This way of passing the winter is 
called hibernating. 

Some kinds of insects live much longer than others; 
and some raise several generations of young in a single 
summer. Many are more hardy than others and can with- 
stand greater changes of climate; while different forms 
are able to live only under certain limited conditions. 
A few kinds are furnished with arrangements for defend- 
ing themselves against their enemies, as are the skunk and 
the weasel. Others can and do feed on a number of differ- 
ent plants ; while still others attack only a single kind of 
food-plant. Each form has its particular enemies, 
which, like the hosts themselves, are likewise subject to 
the influences of climate and to the attacks of diseases 
and enemies. 

Knowing all these things about insects, we can begin 
to understand why some kinds are more numerous and 
do more harm than others. 

Insects generally die soon after laying their eggs. 
A great many die even before their eggs hatch, hence 
do not live to see their young. A few, however, like 
the queen of the honey-bee, live much longer, and even 
take some care of their young. Some insects eat all the 
time while growing, never going to sleep, and stopping 
to rest only long enough to shed their skins. Such kinds 
as live on flesh have been known to eat two hundred times 
their own weight of food in a single day; and certain 



56 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

kinds of caterpillars may increase in size ten thousand 
times inside of thirty days. 

Where Found. — Insects are found in all countries, 
at all times of the year, and under nearly every condi- 
tion. They live in our homes, gardens, and fields, in the 
woods, and on the prairies; they occur upon and within 
the bodies of our domestic and wild animals, as well as in 
the air, water, and earth. No region is without one or 
more forms of these creatures. They enter into and 
affect our daily lives more or less everywhere and under 
nearly every condition. We are more or less dependent 
upon them; or at least use many of them or their pro- 
ducts in our food, clothing, and the arts, almost every 
day of our lives. In fact, among insects we find both 
friend and foe, be our calling in life what it may. They 
come across our path as enemies to all kinds of useful 
plants, as parasites that attack and infest useful ani- 
mals. We may meet them on the other hand as friends 
that help to fertilize and gather honey from flowers, 
make wax, spin silk, clean away dead animals and rot- 
ting plants. We may also meet them as parasites upon 
and within the bodies of the enemies mentioned above. 

The Proportionate Number of Insects. — About nine- 
tenths of all animal forms are insects. The other one- 
tenth includes the forms described above as being their 
'near relatives, as well as the fishes, birds, angle and 
other worms, reptiles, and other four-footed animals like 
mice, cats, sheep, horses, and monkeys. But we can 
notice only a few of them here. 



CHAPTER VI 

USEFUL INSECTS 

If we remember what has just been said about insects 
in general, we already know that they are not all harm- 
ful or destructive, but that there are, perhaps, just as 
many useful ones as there are of the other kind. Of 
course we who live in the country know all about this. 
It is mostly for the benefit of the folks who live in 
towns and cities that we must tell many of these things 
about insects. 

Some of the most useful insects are the bees, wasps, 
ichneumon flies, flesh flies, dragon flies, tiger-beetles, 
burying-beetles, lady-birds, and silk-worms. All of 
these, and many others, live in such a manner as to 
help us in different ways. 

Bees and What They Do. — The bees, of which there 
are a great many kinds, spend much of their time in 
visiting flowers, where they gather honey for themselves, 
and pollen for their young. While doing this, they 
carry the pollen, or yellow dust, from one flower to 
another, and without knowing it do just the very thing 
that must be done before there can be fruit or seeds. 

The honey-bee, which has been tamed and taught to 
live in hives, stores honey for fall, winter, and early 
spring use, and for the wax-makers to eat while they are 
furnishing wax to the comb-makers. The other workers 
about the hive also live on honev. In a bee-hive there 



58 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE ■ 

are workers, a queen, which is the mother, and drones. 
The drones are the males, and do not help about the hive 
nor gather honey, or pollen. When the swarming sea- 
son is over they are killed by the workers. Some time 
you will learn a great deal more about honey-bees be- 
cause every farmer and fruit grower should have one or 
more hives of these useful insects on the place. 

Bumhle-Bees. Every boy and many of the girls who 
live in the country can tell you where to find them. 
Like the honey-bee, they gather both honey and pollen, 
which are carried to their nests and stored for future use. 
If we rob a nest we learn that some of the cells, or little 
sacks, which we find there are filled with honey, and 
others with a yellowish green paste. This last is the 
"bee-bread," as it' is called. It is made by mixing 
pollen and honey together, and is the kind of food 
the little bees must eat. 

How They Live and Raise their Young. — If we 
take the trouble to examine all the different sacks or 
cells in the nest, we find in them eggs, small, middle- 
sized, and full-grown grubs, as well as the pupas or "rest- 
ing stage." In the cells where there are eggs, none of 
the pollen paste or bee-bread will be missing, but in 
those where there are grubs, more or less will have been 
eaten. A cellful of pollen as provided by the parent 
is just enough food for a young bee to eat in order to 
become full grown. So when all has been eaten the grub 
simply changes to the pupa, and a little later is full- 
grown; i. e., it becomes a bumble-bee and is ready to 
carry pollen and honey, or to work in the nest, along 
with the others. Bumble-bees, like the honey-bees, 



USEFUL INSECTS 59 

have queens, workers, and drones or males; but there 
may be a dozen or more queens in a single nest instead 
of only the one. The queens alone live over winter, 
hence all bumble-bees in spring appear to be much 
larger than those we see in summer, when there are 
workers and males also. Both the queens and workers 
gather honey and pollen. The males visit flowers to 
feed, but do not carry honey or pollen to the nest. 

There are a large number of other kinds of wild bees 
which live in the ground or in the stems of plants. Most 
of these have only two forms, or sexes, the male and 
female. Neither do they store honey; nor do they live 
in nests where there are very many together. Some of 
them are quite small and either shiny green or blue. 
Others are gayly marked with yellow and white dots and 
bands. Each kind seems to choose some particular 
flower or flowers which it visits in preference to all others 
to feed upon the honey and pollen. 

Cuckoo Bees. — Some bees are not made with pollen 
baskets on their hind legs or on the under side of their 
abdomens like those which do store this substance. 
Still they must raise their young in some way, so they 
do it by laying their eggs in the nests of those bees 
which can carry and store food. These bees which lay 
their eggs in that manner are called "cuckoo bees," 
because of their imitating the European cuckoo, a kind 
of bird that steals its eggs into other birds' nests. Our 
cowbird does the same thing in this country. 

Wasps. — There are a great many kinds of wasps, just 
as there are of bees; and like the latter, they live in 
different ways. Some live in colonies, that is, they 



6o 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



gather together like people in a town and make large 
nests. Some of these nest-making wasps we call "hor- 
nets," some "yellow-jackets," and others "mud-daub- 
ers." The hornets and yellow- jackets make paper 
nests. All of these wasps catch insects and other small 
creatures which they feed to their young. Some kinds 
even chew the food before giving it 
to the young grubs, which live in the 
cells like young bees. The hornets 
and yellow-jackets often catch large 
numbers of biting flies, like those 
that worry our cattle and horses as 
well as ourselves. They also at times 
gnaw holes in ripe fruit and in this 
way do some damage. 

The Mud-Dauber Wasp generally 
fills the cells of its nest with spiders 
and then lays an egg upon them and 
seals up each cell as it is finished. 
The egg soon hatches and the little 
grub begins feeding on the spiders which were furnished 
for its use. When the spiders are all eaten it is full grown, 
and changes to the pupa, and later to the wasp state. 

There are still other kinds of wasps that dig holes in 
the ground. These are called "digger wasps." Some 
of these provide caterpillars, others grasshoppers, and 
still others cicadas, etc., as food for their young. The 
digger wasps are solitary instead of social, i. e., they do 
not live together in large numbers, but only singly or 
in pairs. Some of the digger wasps have very long and 
slender bodies, hence the term "wasp-like" body. 




Fig. 2 2. Caterpillar 
killed by Ichneumon 
parasites. 



USEFUL INSECTS 



6l 



Ichneumon Flies. — Related to the wasps are a num- 
ber of wasp-Hke creatures which Hve as grubs within the 
bodies of caterpillars and other insects. These belong to 
several families known as ichneumon flies. Instead of 
catching the insects which are to serve as food for their 
young, these flies simply sting them and drop in one or 
more eggs which hatch 
into grubs that begin 
feeding and growing 
within the body of the 
host. When full grown 
these grubs either spin 
up within the host's 
body, or come out and 
seek a suitable place 
t o un d ergo their 
change, so that later 
they themselves can 
sting insects for the 
purpose of laying their 
eggs. There are hun- 
dreds and hundreds of 

kinds of these ichneumon flies; and they vary among 
themselves a great deal in form, as well as in size and 
color. Each kind is more or less confined in its at- 
tack to a single, or to but two or three hosts. 

Taking all kinds of insects into consideration that 
suffer from their attacks, it is easily seen that there 
must be an army of these ichneumon flies with varying 
habits in order to meet the demands placed upon them. 
Some work singly, others in numbers; some attack the 




Ichneumon fly. 



62 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

larvae, others the pupa, and still others the mature host. 
Even the eggs of insects are sought out and made to 
serve as breeding places for many kinds of these ichneu- 
mon flies. In this latter case the attacking insect must be 
very small, since it not only finds enough to eat, but also 
the room to grow and move about, shed its skin, as well 
as spin its cocoon, and change to a full-grown insect — 
all inside the egg of its host. One case is known of an 
insect of this kind being so small that sixteen individ- 
uals of it were reared from a single butterfly egg. 

Some of these ichneumon flies, are known to attack 
other ichneumons. Such little insects as different 
kinds of plant lice also suffer greatly from them. Even 
the ichneumons that attack other ichneumons are in 
turn attacked by other kinds, and these again by still 
others. 

Flesh Flies, or Tachina Flies. — By keeping our eyes 
open we may see a great many surprising things that are 
happening in nature about us. We will be enabled to 
learn the answers to many puzzling questions for our- 
selves. "What good are flies?" is one of the questions 
that often come up in the minds of persons who do not 
use their eyes. If such persons would only look, they 
would see a great many things about the lives of differ- 
ent kinds of flies that are useful. When an animal 
dies, or a piece of meat decays, large numbers of flies 
gather about it. In a short time they lay their eggs 
upon it, or "blow" it as we sometimes say, and soon 
maggots appear in large numbers and eat it up. Others 
of these flies have a habit of laying their eggs upon the 
bodies of caterpillars, grasshoppers, and plant lice. 



USEFUL INSECTS 



63 



These eggs soon produce maggots which bore into the 
bodies of their hosts; and, Hke the grubs of the ichneu- 
mon flies described on another page, cause their death. 
Many of our grasshoppers are destroyed each year by 
these grubs of flies, as are also numerous cut-worms 
and other caterpillars. The insects, like the ichneumon 
and flesh flies, which live in the bodies of and kill their 
hosts, are called parasites. 




Fig. 24. Dragon flies. 



Dragon Flies. — Sometimes we learn to call things by 
wrong names. This is simply because the persons 
who named them in the first place did not know much 
about their ways of living. So when certain insects 
were called "snake feeders" or "darning-needles," 
there was this kind of a mistake made, and we should do 
all we can to correct it. We know that these insects do 
not feed snakes, just as well as we know that they will 
not sew up our ears. But they do spend much of their 
time flying about and eating all kinds of mosquitoes, 
gnats, and small flies. So destructive and fierce are they 
among these to us troublesome 'insects that they are 



64 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

the veritable dragons of the air. Hence "dragon flies" 
is a very good name for them. Or, if we prefer to call 
them "mosquito hawks," we can do so, for they spend 
most of their time chasing and catching mosquitoes, of 
which they are very fond. A few years ago a prize was 
offered to the person who would write the best essay 
on ways of getting rid of mosquitoes, and it was given 
to the person who wrote about the habits of the dragon 
flies — how they live as young in the water, where they 
feed on "wrigglers" and other small animal forms, and 
later on mosquitoes, etc. 

Robber Flies. — Sometimes when we are walking along 
a road or path in spring, fall, or summer, we suddenly 
become aware of the presence of some fierce insect; 
at least so we imagine when we hear the loud buzzing of 
its wings as it darts out in front or to one side of us. 
By watching closely we soon see him. It is a large, 
long-bodied, strong-legged fly, with its face well cov- 
ered with stiff whiskers. A closer inspection shows 
him to be a regular robber or pirate in appearance. 
Not only does he look fierce, but 
he is just as terrible as he looks. 
Perhaps at the very moment you 
are watching him he will pounce 
upon a grasshopper or some other 
insect which he kills and robs of 
its blood. The names "robber" 
or "pirate" are both good ones for 
these fierce, bewhiskered flies, of 
which there are a great manv 
^^F^o. 35. Robber fly and ^^^^^ r^^^^ j^-jj ^ great many 




USEFUL INSECTS 65 

kinds of other insects, but seem to like the grasshoppers 
best. Some of these robber flies are as large as, and 
even look very much like, bumble-bees. 

Lace- Wing Flies, or Aphis Lions. — The delicate, 
gauze-winged insects with golden eyes which will be called 
to mind by the picture on this page are very useful 
insects, because they spend their lives among plant lice, 
upon which they feed. Both the full-grown and young 




« ^ e 

Fig. 26. Lace-wing; eggs, larva, and fly. 

insects occupy their time doing this good work. In 
fact, so fierce are these little inoffensive-looking insects 
that nature has found it necessary to defend them 
against their own relatives. When their eggs are laid 
they are placed on the end of hair-like stems, so that, 
when they hatch, the young larvae cannot get at and eat 
one another. Each one as it hatches drops off its perch 
and must wander off by itself in search of plant lice to 
satisfy its keen appetite. Once among the lice its food 
is plentiful and there is less danger of their eating one 
another. These "aphis lions," or lace- wings, are rela- 
tives of the ant-lions, which dig in the sand and make 
little funnel-shaped pitfalls to draw down ants and other 
wandering insects on which they feed. 



66 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Tiger Beetles and Ground Beetles. — Not only do we 
find that insects are attacked by other kinds which dart 
upon them while flying in the air or feeding on plants, or 
which lie in wait for the unsuspecting victim, but we 
see them assailed on all sides by still others which steal 
cautiously forth in search of them, just as a cat does for 
mice or a fox for rabbits. Among these latter the tiger 
beetles and their relatives, the ground beetles, are most 
important. There are hundreds of kinds of these car- 
nivorous beetles. 

The tiger beetles are rather bright colored, long-legged, 
active insects that live on the ground. They may 
be seen running swiftly along roads or paths in pursuit 
of game, or basking in the sunshine lying in wait for some 
approaching victim. Their grubs, or young, also feed 
on other insects, which are caught by stealth. They 
live in perpendicular holes at the tops of which they lie 
in wait till some ant or other insect steps right into their 
open mouths. 

The ground beetles nearly all hunt in a similar fashion 
but these instead of doing their hunting during daytime 
prowl mostly after nightfall. Some kinds remain on or 
near the ground, but others run up the trunks and among 
the branches of trees, where they feed on caterpillars 
and other leaf-feeding insects of various kinds. Some 
of these tree-climbing kinds are beautifully colored, and 
are called caterpillar-hunters. Most ground beetles 
are provided with arrangements for producing offensive 
odors. A few can even discharge this substance from 
the tip of the abdomen, with such force as to produce a 
noise like shooting. When this is done in daylight 




USEFUL INSECTS 6^ 

"smoke" is seen. The last described are called bom- 
bardier beetles. 

Lady Birds. — Besides the tiger and ground beetles 
just mentioned, there are other kinds of beetles which 
spend their time doing good by destroying harmful 
insects or their eggs. Quite promi- 
nent among these latter are the 
small red-and-black spotted lady 
birds, or lady "bugs," as they are 
most often called. These eat the 
eggs of such harmful species as Fig. 27. Lady bird, 
the Colorado potato beetle, flea 

beetles, the chinch-bug, and others. They also eat large 
numbers of plant lice of different kinds, and in doing 
this become our friends. 

Scavenger Insects. — As already suggested, insects 
can be useful in a number of ways. On the preceding 
pages some of the forms have been described which 
are useful as destroyers of harmful kinds. It is also 
known that some kinds of insects either feed on weeds 
or on dead and decaying animals and plants, which, if 
allowed to remain unmolested, would be the cause of 
disease. The last of these we call scavengers. They 
may be either flies or beetles. Some of the flies belong- 
ing to this class are closely related to those already 
mentioned as destroyers of caterpillars and grasshoppers, 
but others are not. The beetles are called either' 
"burying beetles" or "dung beetles," but these two 
names do not include all of the forms that serve as 
scavengers. If a mouse, snake, or other small animal 
dies and is left lying on the ground during warm weather 



68 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



the odor soon attracts large 
and small beetles of several 
kinds, which at once begin 
digging underneath it so as to 
let the animal settle into the 
earth. This digging by the 
insects continues until the 
dead animal is buried or cov- 
ered with dirt. Before leav- 
ing it the beetles lay their eggs 
on or near the body, so that 
their young when hatched 
will be provided with food. 

Not only dead and decay- 
ing animals and plants are 
thus used by some insects 
for food for themselves and 
their young, but even the 
dung or droppings of most 
larger animals is likewise made use of by them for a 
similar purpose. The "tumble-bug" selects a portion 
of such material, lays an egg in it, and then rolls it over 
and over along the ground, till it has become covered 
with a hard layer of earth. The pellet is then buried 
and left, the parent beetle knowing that the young grub 
will be well supplied with food to last till it is fully grown 
and ready to change to the beetle state. Others of these 
beetles simply bury some material without at first rolling 
it about; and still others do not even bury it, but are 
satisfied with simply laying their eggs upon or within it. 
Some of these scavenger beetles are beautifully colored, 




Clover root beetle. 



USEFUL INSECTS 69 

and are also adorned with horns and other queer orna- 
ments. 

Other insects, like the silk- worm, cochineal, and lac 
or shellac making kinds, occur in some countries. A 
number of different kinds of insects are also eaten by 
the wild and partly civilized peoples who live in various 
countries. Some of these edible insects are such as 
grasshoppers or locusts, meal-worms, water boatmen, 
and various borers taken from decaying logs. Insects 
may also be considered valuable when used for fish-bait 
or when fed to fowls. In fact, whenever a direct or even 
an indirect use of them is made whereby man may be 
profited in any way, they may be said to be of some 
benefit to him. 



CHAPTER VII 



HARMFUL INSECTS 



Locusts, or Short-Horned Grasshoppers. — Perhaps 
the most important insects that do damage here in the 
West year after year are the ones we call the "short- 
horned" grasshoppers. A better name for them is 
locusts; but if we insist oh calling them by the name 
"grasshoppers," we should add to it "short-horned," 
so that the bug-man will also know what kind of jump- 
ing insects we are talking about. 

Not all of the short-horned grasshoppers are to be 
dreaded. Still, every one of these insects feeds 
on plants, and nearly all such food-plants are more o* 
less useful to us in one way or another. In this state 
there are nearly or quite one hundred and eighty different 

kinds. Some of these 
are quite small, others 
are quite large; some 
have long wings which 
they use in flying from 
1^ ^^^^-^ one place to another, but 

WBAw^ jm^^^ others are almost or en- 

iSr-W^-*w^ jSBm^^^i^^ tirely without these helps 

for getting about. They 
are of nearly all colors 
and live in almost every 
part of the country. 






Fig. 29. Rocky Mountain locust. 



70 



HARMFUL INSECTS 7 I 

Nearly all the different kinds of grasshoppers of this 
family lay their eggs in the same way, so that a single 
account will do for all. Female locusts are so made 
that they can dig holes in the ground with the tip of 
their abdomen. When the hole is of the right depth it 
is lined with a froth-like substance, and the eggs are 
laid as shown in the picture. Different kinds lay differ- 
ent numbers of eggs. Some deposit only about two dozen, 
while others lay more than one hundred in a single pod. 
After the eggs have been laid, the rest of the hole is filled 
with the same frothy matter mentioned above. This 
dries and leaves an easy way for the young hoppers to 
reach the surface when they hatch. These insects lay 
their eggs in varied places. Some like dry, sandy, or 
gravelly ground; others soft, loose earth in low places; 
and still others choose the soil about the tangled roots 
of plants, or hard-trampled paths and roadsides for the 
purpose. They lay their eggs at different times, but 
mostly during late summer or in the early fall of the year. 
A few kinds also lay them in the spring. This differ- 
ence in egg-laying makes them hatch at different 
seasons. The spring-laid eggs generally hatch in late 
summer or fall. So when we see grasshoppers on warm 
days in winter and early spring we need not feel alarmed. 
These are some of the kinds that always live over win- 
ter as young or full-grown hoppers instead of in the 
egg state. There are only a few of these kinds, and 
they hardly ever do much harm. It may seem that 
they are intended for winter and early spring birds, as 
well as for those of us who like to study about insects. 

In growing, these insects shed their skin four or five 



72 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



times. The different sizes 
are shown in the picture. 
The time required for a 
grasshopper to grow up is 
from six weeks to nearly 
or quite two months. Each 
one of these insects eats fully 
as much food in a day as its 
own weight, and often a great 
deal more. So when there 
are a great many in one place 
they do much damage. 

Grasshoppers, like all other 
kinds of insects, are more or 
less affected by the weather 
and by different kinds of 
enemies. This is why we see 
them more plentiful some 
years than others. But we 
cannot tell you here about 
all of the natural enemies, 
or even about how cold and 
heat, or wet and dry, is apt 
to affect their hatching and 
growth and make them plentiful or scarce. 

It will be remembered that a number of different kinds 
of useful insects were said to destroy grasshoppers and 
their relatives. In addition to what these useful insects 
do towards reducing their numbers, many die from 
sickness ; still others are killed off year by year by animals 
of the prairie, woods, and farm. The study of how one 




Fig. 30. Rocky Mountain 
locust moulting. 



HARMFUL IXSF^CTS 73 

kind of life depends upon another is very interesting 
as well as useful to the farmer, and he should take it 
up if he would make the most of his life and opportu- 
nities. 

Grasshopper Diseases, like the sicknesses of other ani- 
mals, often cause the death of thousands of these insects; 
but we have not yet been able to spread these diseases 
artificially so as to make them of much use in killing the 
'hoppers. We must destroy their eggs in fall, during 
winter, or early spring, by disking or harrowing the 
ground. We must catch the young and full-grown 
insects with 'hopper dozers and other machines, or else 
we must by some other means prevent them from 
destroying our cultivated plants and grasses that grow 
wild upon the prairies. 

Crickets, Katydids, and Other Relatives of Locusts. 
— These insects, like the short-horned grasshoppers de- 
scribed above, are also plant-eaters. But they hardly 
ever become so numerous as to destroy whole fields of 
grain or the grasses of the prairies and meadows. In 
fact, they seem to be more or less necessary to com- 
plete our idea of a country picture. Their thrilling 
music seems to be ever present during the warm days 




Pig. 31. Angular-winged katydid. 



74 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



and delightful evenings of late summer and early fall. 
This insect music is one of the most characteristic fea- 
tures of country life, and we would miss it greatly were 
all these insects to die and no longer chirrup their songs 
of love. They are the chief musicians of the insect 
world and they appeal to most of us who have been 
endowed with sentimental natures, much as do birds. 

As mentioned on a former 
page, in these insects we find 
fully developed ears, which 
are located on the front legs 
just below the knee, or elbow. 
Their feelers, or "horns," 
are nearly or quite as long 
as their bodies, hence they 
may be called "long-horned" 
to separate them from the 
' ' short-horned ' ' grasshoppei i 
referred to above. Then, too, 
the females are furnished with 
a sword-like egg-layer. These 
may be separated into two 
and the katydids and katy- 
did-like insects. These musical insects also have 
their natural enemies among the useful kinds already 
described. 

Bugs and their Relatives. — When we tried to tell you 
about insects in general as differing from all other animal 
forms, you will remember it was said that certain kinds 
had their mouths made in the form of a jointed beak or 
tube. These insects suck blood and sap. Some of them 




Fig 
bug. 



32. Spined soldier- 



long-horned 'hoppers 
families — the crickets, 



HARMFUL INSECTS 75 

are called bugs, some cicadas, others leaf and tree hop- 
pers, and still others lice and plant lice. 

Most of the members of this great army of insects 
with sucking mouths belong to the harmful insects, 
because we find them living either as enemies to man or 
to the domestic animals which he has tamed ; or else they 
are harmful to the plants which we use. Such common 
kinds like lice and bed-bugs we all know about. We also 
know about the squash-bug and chinch-bug, both of 
which are very troublesome. The squash-bug sucks 
the juices from squash, pumpkin, cucumber, and melon 
vines; and the chinch-bug injures wheat, barley, rye, 
oats, millet, and corn. All of these, and a lot of others, 
have a peculiar strong odor. So we often call them 
" stink bugs. " They are the true bugs and we should be 
careful about calling other insects by so bad a name. 
Even these jointed-beaked insects are not all called 
"bugs," as stated above. 

^ In summer we often hear insects singing in the trees, 
which seem to make noise enough to be as large as a cat 
or a dog, but which are really no larger than the outer 
jomt of one of our fingers. These are cicadas, or as they 
are sometimes wrongly called, "locusts." One kind 
takes seventeen years to become full grown, and then 
appears in large numbers or swarms. For sixteen years 
it lives under the ground sucking the sap from roots 
and growing slowly, but the seventeenth year it comes 
to the top of the ground, gets wings, lays its eggs, and 
dies. These eggs, which are placed in the twigs of trees 
by the female insect, hatch and the young cicadas drop 
to the ground and dig down to live there like their par- 



76 



NEW ELEMENTARY ACiKIC'C 1, 1 1 ' RE 



ents did for sixteen years. These cicadas make all 
their noise with their ears. Queer insects, indeed! 

Tree-hoppers and Leaf-hoppers. — They are so-called, 
because they live on grass, leaves, and trees, and be- 
cause of their jumping habits. Like their relatives, 
the cicadas and bugs, they live on sap. Some of 




Fig. 3 3. Brownie bugs. 



them are very queer-looking creatures indeed. If we 
believed that there were such creatures as fairies and 
brownies we would surely say that they were these in- 
sects, so bedecked are they with queer haunches on 
their backs and shoulders; and with their bulging eyes, 
which suggest the productions of Palmer Cox. Some 
of them really have been called "brownie bugs," be- 
cause of their likeness to the brownies. 

There are hundreds of these jumping insects, and each 
kind seems to be an enemy of some particular plant. 



HARMFUL INSECTS 7/ 

Throughout the summer, nearly every blade of grass on 
the prairies, every weed in the field, or herb in the forest, 
to say nothing of cultivated plants, has one or more of 
these insects perched upon it busily engaged in sucking 
the sap. No wonder that plants suffer and are so often 
killed, when such a host of insects is continual!}^ at work 
upon them. But these, like other harmful insects, all 
have their own enemies and diseases to keep them in 
check. Sometimes, however, we must fight them our- 
selves in order to prevent their doing too much damage 
to our crops. The 'hopper dozar can then be used, or 
we can spray the plants with kerosene emulsion, which is 
made as described in the chapter on remedies. 

Plant Lice. — Plants, like animals, are often bothered 
by lice. Sometimes they are even killed by them, if 
there is no remedy at hand. The lice of plants are either 
shell-like and stick very close to the twigs or leaves ; or 
they are active and move about from place to place like 
many other insects. The first kind are called "bark 
lice" or "scale insects"; and the last "aphids" or 
simply "plant lice." 

Scale insects, when full grown, do not look at all like 
other insects; but when they are first hatched they 
resemble a "sow-bug" and are quite active and run 
about on the plants which they infest. After a little 
while they settle down upon the bark or surface of a 
leaf, insert their beaks, and begin sucking sap. They 
then commence to form a shell or covering of wax over 
their bodies and remain stationary the remainder of 
their lives. Different kinds make scales or shells of 
different shapes. The male insects, when full grown, 



78 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



change form, and leave the scales as winged creatures, 
but the females do not. The latter simply remain 
where they are, lay eggs under the shells, and die. At 
the right time these eggs hatch and the young run about 
over the plant until they settle down just as their par- 




FlG. 



Peach scale. 



ents did before them. A very few kinds produce living 
young instead of laying eggs. The much-talked-of San 
Jose scale is of this latter kind. The wax from some kinds 
of these insects is used for making varnish. Mealy bugs 
and the cochineal insect are relatives of the scale insects. 
The aphids, green flies, or true plant-lice, form a very 
interesting family of insects. So if a little more time is 
spent in telling about them than was given to other 
forms you will, no doubt, pardon the writer. Besides 



HARMFUL INSECTS 



79 



being very interesting on account of the way in which 
they Hve and raise their young, very many kinds are 
among our most harmful insects. They are also among the 
most rapid multipliers in the insect world. A few kinds 
feed on several plants, but most of them attack only one 
species upon which they continue to live till they die. 




Cottonwood gall louse. 



While feeding they discharge a sweet substance from 
two tubes which grow on their backs near the sides of 
their abdomen. This fluid is called "honey dew," and 
often attracts a great many other insects, like bees, 
wasps, and ants which come to lap it up. Ants in par- 
ticular are fond of this honey dew and often take care of 
the plant lice as we would of cows just to obtain this 
honey dew when they want it. In fact, plant lice of 
this sort are very often called ant's cows. Perhaps, if 
there is room for it in this little book, more will be told 
about ants and their cows. 



80 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

How They Multiply. — Plant lice increase by laying 
eggs, as well as by what is called "budding." A true 
female louse lays eggs in the fall on the plant where its 
young must feed. This egg hatches into another kind 
of mother louse the next spring. When full grown, 
instead of laying eggs, she produces little lice — about 
twenty-five a day for two weeks or more. In about a 
week these little lice are grown up, when they, too, give 
birth to other little lice, and these in turn become 
mothers, and so on all through the spring, summer, and 
fall, till cold weather indicates that it is time for eggs to 
be laid for taking the lice through the' winter. In this 
way we can have countless millions of lice produced in 
one season from a single egg. 

Some of these lice live on the surface of the plants 
injured, either upon the upper or lower side of the leaves, 
or upon the stem itself. Others cause the leaves to curl 
or twist about, so as to form a protection for them. 
Still others cause the plant to form peculiar hollow 
growths, within which they feed, quite well protected 
from storms and certain enemies. Other kinds even 
feed on the roots of plants beneath the surface of the 
ground. Some change from one plant to another, or 
from above ground to below and back again as the sea- 
sons change. 

These insects are the most rapid multipliers among 
insects. They also have many enemies, as you will 
remember from having read the chapter on useful 
insects. Sometimes even all of these enemies, when 
combined, are unable to keep their numbers small 
enough to prevent their doing harm. At such times 



HARMFUL INSECTS 8 I 

we must spray the plants with soap-suds, kerosene 
emulsion, whale-oil soap, and other remedies which are 
used for various soft -bodied insects. 

Biting Lice. — Besides the lice that suck the blood 
there are a lot of different kinds of these insects which 
feed on hair, feathers, and scales of the skins of the 
animals upon which they live. They are called "biting 
lice," to tell them from the "sucking lice." Most 
of these biting lice live on birds, but a few kinds, also, 
live on animals with fur or hair. 

Most wild birds know how to kill these lice, so 
they never become numerous enough to do much 
harm. Even our tame birds, like chickens, know that 
by dusting themselves in ashes and other dry, powdery 
substances they can rid themselves of their lice. Some- 
times sitting hens and little chickens become covered 
with lice and must then be greased in order to kill these 
vermin. The grease chokes or stops up the breathing 
holes at the side of their bodies. 

Beetles. — The insects which we call beetles are very 
numerous and differ a great deal among themselves in 
si2e, shape, habits, and the places where they may be 
found. Of course, as you already know, many of them 
are useful ; but others are harmful because they destroy 
trees and other plants on or inside of the leaves, stems, 
and roots upon which they feed. Some kinds come 
into our houses and other buildings, where they attack 
and injure carpets, clothing, and even articles of food. 
In our granaries they attack stored grain, besides de- 
stroying flour and meal in mills. 

Beetles differ from other insects in having their front 



82 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



wings hard and bony so they can be used to protect 
their soft bodies and deHcate hind wings, which are made 
to fly with. Their young are worm-Uke, and are called 
by such names as grubs, wire- worms, grub-worms, 
round-headed borers, flat-headed borers, and glow- 




FiG. 36. June -beetle. 



worms, according as they are the larvae of certain kinds 
or families of beetles. 

Perhaps the commonest beetles that do harm on the 
farm are those we call " June-bugs " or May-beetles. 

These are so well known that the picture alone will 
show what kind is meant. Of course town-folks and 
girls will have to be told that the grub-worms are their 
young, and that they live in the ground two or three 
years before they are full grown. These grubs dig their 
way about in the earth, where they eat the roots of grasses, 
clover, alfalfa, and a number of other plants. When 
ready to change to the pupa stage they make a nice 
little oval-shaped room in which this takes place; and 



HARMFUL INSECTS 83 

later, in which the beetle waits till it has become hardened 
enough to dig its way through the earth to the top of 
the ground. In spring, about corn-planting time, these 
beetles come out during warm evenings and fly around 
making their buzzing noise. Sometimes hundreds, or 
even thousands, of them gather on our fruit and shade 
trees; and when they do so, much harm is done because 
they eat the blossoms, leaves, and fruit. In a few 
weeks their eggs are laid and the old beetles die or are 
eaten by various kinds of toads, lizards, mice, and other 
small animals. One of the digger wasps, spoken of on 
another page, also kills many of these insects; but it 
generally attacks the grubs, instead of the beetles. 
Some of the relatives of the June-beetles, which are 
found in warm countries, are regular giants — being five 
or six inches long. Others of their relatives are the 
dung-beetles, like the tumble-bugs mentioned at another 
place in this book, and flower-beetles, of both of which 
there are many kinds. 

Wire-Worm Beetles. — We sometimes find smooth, 
hard, yellowish-brown, slender worms among the roots 
of grasses and clover. These are called "wire-worms," 
and are the young of click-beetles or snapping beetles. 
Like the grub- worm, these wire-worms often do much 
damage to growing plants by gnawing off their roots. 
On account of their living in the ground it is not 
so very easy to destroy them. About the only thing 
that can be done is to encourage their natural enemies, 
such as have already been mentioned or will be later. 
One of these wire-worms here in Nebraska is furnished 
with an arrangement for making lights like a fire-fly. 



84 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 



It is called a glow-worm. In the West Indies, and 
Central and South America, some of the larger 
"click" beetles are also fitted with very strong and 
bright lanterns for attracting 
their mates. People some- 
times use these beetles for 
scarf-pins when going to a party 
at night. They can also be 
used instead of candles to read 
by. 

Leaf-Beetles. — Anybody who 
has learned to know the Colo- 
rado potato beetle can tell what 
leaf -beetles are like. These form 
a very large family of medium 
or small sized, bright-coLored 
beetles, which feed on the 
leaves of different plants. Even their grubs can usually 
be found on the same plant with the parents. To this 
family belong such rascals as the cucumber-beetles, the 
corn-root worm, the willow^ and the cottonwood beetles, 
the sweet-potato-beetles, fiea-beetles, and others. Feed- 
ing as they do on many of our wild plants, it happens 
that every once in a while we learn of a new kincj chang- 
ing to one of the cultivated plants. When this is done 
we have one more insect enemy to fight. 

Some of these leaf-beetles are protected from their 
enemies by being furnished with arrangements for mak- 
ing strong odors, or by having their bodies covered with 
distasteful substances. Others have the habit of living 
in little cases which the grubs make for themselves, and 



S7- Wire-worm or 
'click" beetle. 



HARMFUL lNSEc:rS 



S5 



still others drop to the ground when disturbed, where 
they lie as if dead. Many of these leaf-beetles live over 
winter hidden away under old rubbish, cow-chips, stones, 
and pieces of wood, where we may find them on any 
pleasant day if we only take the pains to look. Early 
in the spring they leave these winter quarters, and 




Fig. 38. Leaf-beetles. 



fly to the plants on which their young are to feed. 
There are two or three broods or sets of young of many 
forms during the spring, summer, and fall. Many of 
the leaf-beetles are eaten by their enemies while they 
are still in the egg state. The lady-birds, spoken of on 
another page, do much of this good work. 

Boring Beetles. — Every boy goes into the woods 
sometime during the year; or if he does not, he certainly 
must chop wood. In either case he soon learns that the 
trunk, branches, and limbs of trees are bored into by 
insects. Sometimes he even finds them in their burrows. 
Of cou.rse he has learned for himself that the worms of 
different shapes and sizes are the young of beetles — 
short-horned or long-horned. But the girls who stay 
at home and can't chop wood must be told about them 
here. 

These wood-boring insects do a great deal of harm by 



86 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

making holes so as to cut off the flow of sap. Some- 
times they even weaken trees to such an extent as to 
allow the wind to break them off. The beetles that lay 
the eggs from which these borers hatch, mostly belong 
to two families, which are called the "long-horned" and 




FxG. 39. Hackberry borer. 

the "short-horned" boring beetles. Their young are 
called "round-headed" and "flat-headed" borers, the 
round-headed being the young of the long-horned 
beetles, and the flat-headed those of the short-horned. 
Even if these insects are hidden away on the inside of 
trees they are not quite safe from enemies. So nicely 
has everything been planned in this world that no kind 
of animal can escape from all others. A number of 
ichneumon flies and other insects make it their special 



HARMFUL INSECTS 



87 



business to hunt out and destroy them. Then, too, as 
the boys will tell you, certain kinds of our birds are also 
made especially for the same kind of work. By looking 
over what is said about birds in this little book, you will 




Bark -boring beetle and injury. 



learn which ones these are, and how they are fitted for 
the work they have to do. 

Sometimes a slender wire or the point of a pen-knife 
in the hand of a man or boy, will save a tree when we 
know that a borer is at work in its trunk. By the time 
one of the borer's natural enemies gets around to the 
injured tree it might be too late. 



88 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Bark-Beetles. — In addition to the two kinds of 
boring beetles just mentioned, there are still others; 
but those known as "bark-beetles" are the most im- 
portant. These, as the name indicates, are to be found 
either in the bark or between it and the wood. By 
the united work of many of these beetles a tree is soon 
girdled and killed. Most of these bark-beetles are rather 
small, but their numbers make up for their small size. 
They generally attack and hurt sickly trees, or those 
that have been already harmed by leaf-eaters or other 
borers. 

Aside from their natural enemies we can do much 
towards keeping these bark-beetles in check by cutting 
off the infested limbs and burning them along with the 
beetles and their grubs. The bark-beetles that injure 
fruit-trees should be looked after first because they do 
the most harm and are not so often destroyed by birds 
which live in the woods and farther away from our 
homes. 

Snout Beetles. — We often see beetles of different 
shapes, sizes, and colors, which have the front part of 
their heads drawn out so as to form snouts, or beaks. 
These are called ' ' bill bugs , " or " snout beetles . ' ' Nearly 
all of them are harmful in one way or another, because 
they attack and eat plants or their seeds and fruits. 
The grubs of these insects generally live inside of some 
part of the plants attacked. A good example of this 
kind of beetle is known as the plum-gouger, because it 
gouges holes and lays its eggs in that fruit. Other kinds 
are enemies of such fruits as the pear, apple, peach, and 
grape, while nearly all the varieties of nuts have each 



HARMFUL INSECTS 



89 




Fig. 



Plum gouger. 



one or more kinds of 
these insects which in- 
jure them. Some of the 
nut "weevils," for such 
is the name by which 
they are known, have 
snouts nearly or quite 
as long as their bodies. 
The reason for their 
having this very long 
snout is that they use 
their bills for making 
holes clear through the 
husk as well as the shell 
of the nut, so that their 
eggs can be placed where the grubs will live. 

Some of our weevils, or snout beetles, injure corn, 
sugar-cane, and even the smaller grains and grasses. 
Hundreds of smaller kinds live in the stems or else in 
the flower-heads and seed-pods of certain plants. One 
kind lives in the stems of the cockle-bur, and sometimes 
kills it. But we do not mind this, for we ourselves try 
to destroy the cockle-burs. 

Stored Grain Insects. — Many of the smaller weevils 
are so fond of different kinds of seeds that they often 
go to our granaries where they attack and eat the stored 
grain. In fact, some kinds are only found in stored 
grain and other food substances made of grains and seeds 
like peas, beans, and rice. A few other small beetles 
besides the weevils are found in the same kinds of 
places and have similar habits. All of them have 



QO NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

.natural enemies; but, living as they do in artificial 
homes with plenty to eat, they have more of a chance to 
escape these than do other insects which are less pro- 
tected. This being the case, we must do more in the 
way of fighting them ourselves. 

Butterflies and Moths. — It is very easy to tell but- 
terflies and moths from all other kinds of insects, because 
they have their wings covered with little colored scales 
that easily rub off. But it is not quite so easy to tell 
them apart. Of course we know that butterflies fly 
about in the daytime, when the sun shines, and that 
most of the moths are night fliers. Then, too, butter- 
flies have knobbed feelers, but those of the moth are 
either feathered or thread-like and pointed. Still it 
makes little difference to us, whether butterflies or 
moths, so long as they are harmful. 

Since it is the young or caterpillars of these insect-^ 
that do the harm, we should know more about them 
than about the full-grown insects, which only sip 
the sweet juices of flowers, and fly about laying their 
eggs and enjoying life. These caterpillars, even if they 
are worm-like, are different from one another in form 
and appearance. Some are smooth, some are rough 
and are more or less covered with wart -like knobs and 
hairs, others are long and slender, while still others are 
short and heavy. We call them by such common names 
as cut- worms, silk- worms, bag- worms, army- worms, 
apple-worms, measuring-worms, wood-borers, tent cater- 
pillars, etc., according to the way in which they live and 
how they look. 

Caterpillars differ from one another in their habits as 



HARMFUL INSECTS 9I 

well as in their appearance. Some go in droves or ar- 
mies, others feed singly or alone. Some spin webs under 
which to hide from their enemies, or by which to drop 
and hang when disturbed. Still others live as borers 
within the leaves, stems, fruits, and seeds of plants; 
and a few like to eat clothing, dried fruit, flour, and other 
articles which we keep in our homes. 

These insects are quite rapid multipliers. By this we 
mean that they increase in numbers very fast. Most 
female moths and butterflies lay over a hundred eggs 
at one time, and some are known to deposit as many 
as five or six hundred, or even raore. Some kinds have 
only a single brood each year; but others raise young 
two, three, or it may be four times a year. A good 
many kinds feed on only one or two species of plants, 
but others seem to be able to eat almost anything that 
grows. It is these last that are oftenest the most harm- 
ful kinds. 

The eggs of the butterflies and moths are nearly 
always beautiful objects. Many of them have their 
shells nicely ridged with different kinds of figures which 
are arranged so as to make them look like small vases 
and other kinds of colored glass dishes. From these 
hatch the little caterpillars. These latter eat and grow 
very fast, and shed their skin four or five times before 
they are full grown and ready to change to the resting- 
stage. This stage in these insects is called the chrys- 
alis. Sometimes the change from a caterpillar to 
chrysalis takes place inside of a cocoon made of silk, or of 
silk and hair. At other times it occurs in the ground in a 
little oval cell; and at still others within the burrows 



92 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



of the caterpillars in the stems or leaves of plants. The 
caterpillars of butterflies most always change to the 
chrysalis without spinning cocoons, or even going into 
the ground or boring into plants. 

Cut- Worms and Army- Worms. — Every year there is 
more or less damage done to young plants on the farm by 
caterpillars which we call cut-worms. This name is 

given to them be- 
cause they most 
always cut off the 
plants near the 
ground. A few 
kinds even climb 
up the trunks of 
trees and other 
plants to do their 
mischief. The 
cut-worms work 
at night, but in 
the daytime they 
hide away in the 
ground, or under 
sticks, clods, old boards, dried leaves, and other things 
which may be lying around loose. They are the young 
of certain gray or dull-colored moths, which also keep 
themselves hidden away during the daytime. There are 
a great many kinds of these insects in Nebraska. Some 
of them often appear in large numbers, and at such 
times are called army-worms. When present in armies 
they do not always take the trouble to hide when the 
sun rises, but keep on feeding and moving about all 




Fig. 42. Fall army-worm. 



HARMFUL INSECTS 93 

day. We know of the genuine, fall, the alfalfa, and the 
wheat-head army- worms here in our own state, and 
there are still others in different parts of the country. 

The cut-worms and army- worms have dozens of kinds 
of enemies among the useful insects. These most always 
keep them so nearly killed off that they cannot do much 
harm to our crops. Sometimes, however, the weather 
is not just right for the friendly insects to be about in 
their usual numbers, and then these harmful kinds get 
ahead of them. When this is the case we ourselves 
must try to do something to assist in checking their 
numbers. We can use heavy rollers and other machines 
to crush the worms, or we may plough furrows and dig 
ditches for them to fall into where they may be killed, 
and later harrow the ground to destroy the chrysalids. 
Sometimes we may also put out poisoned baits to which 
they can be enticed and killed. 

Tent Caterpillars. — These are the young of moths 
which live on trees. They have received their name 
because they spin webs that sometimes look like little 
tents tucked away in the forks of limbs. Like the cut- 
worms, these tent caterpillars are of several kinds and 
attack different trees. They also work in various ways, 
either in spring, summer, or fall. The eggs from which 
they hatch are laid by the parent moths in clusters 
upon the trees. Those of the kind that ^v^ork early in 
spring are laid during the previous fall and summer; 
but those that appear later are deposited the same year. 
Some kinds of tent caterpillars spin cocoons in which 
they change into the chrysalis ; but others dig into the 
ground before making the change. All kinds are more 



94 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

or less thickly covered with hair, and for this reason 
birds do not care to eat them. The useful ichneumon 
flies, spoken of in another chapter, do not seem to mind 
this, for many of them lay their eggs on the bodies of the 
caterpillars so that their young can feed upon them. 
Other insects, also, like the flesh flies, attack and lay 
eggs on them; while such forms as some kinds of "stink 
bugs," caterpillar-hunters, and robber flies, destroy 
many more. 

We can also do much ourselves towards preventing 
our fruit and shade trees from being harmed by these 
caterpillars, if we will only take the time to gather their 
eggs during the winter months, when the leaves are off 
and they can be seen. A torch attached to a long stick 
or pole may be used to burn the caterpillars that are too 
far from the ground to be reached by hand. 

Cabbage Worms. — These are sometimes the young 
of butterflies, and at other times the young of moths. 
The common green ones are the caterpillars of the white 
butterflies that flit around our gardens. There are two 
or three broods of these worms every year, so that we 
seem to have them all summer. They are killed by 
some of the smaller ichneumon flies, one or two kinds of 
" stink bugs, " and a few of the digger wasps and ground 
beetles. Toads also sometimes eat them. The Eng- 
lish sparrows likewise feed many of them, as well as 
other insects, to their young during the summer months. 

The Apple-Worm, or Codling Moth is responsible 
for most if not all of the wormy apples in this part of 
the country. So a few words about it may be useful 
here. In the spring of the year, just after the blossoms 



HARMFUL INSECTS 95 

fall, a small gray moth, with a dull, brownish, copper- 
colored patch near the outer edge of each front wing, 
lays its eggs in the flower end of the apples. These soon 
hatch, and the little worms eat their way into the fruit. 
In about a month or six weeks they are full grown and 
leave the apples, going quietly to the ground, cracks in 
the bark, and other places to spin their cocoons and 
change to the resting-stage. Ten days or two weeks 
later they have changed to moths, which, in turn, lay 
their eggs on the half -grown apples. This time many of 
the eggs are placed between two apples that touch, or 
between an apple and a limb, as well as in the blossom 
end. Some of the worms from the eggs of this second 
brood become full grown and leave the apple early 
enough to change to moths in time to produce a third 
brood of the worms before winter. Most of this second 
brood, however, live over winter in cracks, in the bark on 
trees, or else are taken in fruit to cellars and other places 
where they find safe retreats in which to pass the winter. 

Spraying with Paris green and other poisons soon after 
the eggs are laid for the first worms is the best remedy. 
Not so much good can be done later in the summer by 
spraying. Picking up the windfalls and giving them to 
the hogs will likewise do some good. This worm also 
has its enemies among the useful insects mentioned in 
another chapter. 

Flies, Mosquitoes, and Gnats. — Besides all of the in- 
sects about which we have already learned, we know 
of still others that are of harm in one or more ways. 
Some of these we call by such names as "horse" fiies, 
the house fly, mosquitoes, gnats, etc. These, instead 



96 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

of feeding on plants, suck the blood or live on the bodies 
of some of our tame animals. Quite a number of them 
also bite and tease us when we are out of doors on the 
prairie or in the fields. Doctors tell us that some of 
these insects help to spread diseases like malaria and 
yellow fever. When mosquitoes are numerous about 

the house we can get 
^, 7 rid of some of them 

- by putting a few 

drops of coal oil in 
fa -V^^C^^^ ^^^ rain-water barrel 
so as to kill the wrig- 
id^ \ \im\Vr :i}~Ep glers, which later turn 

^i)X^V-^.v into mosquitoes. 

Some insects do 
g, ^^<^ ^{^''1 harm at certain times 

Fig. 43. Mosquito. ^^ their Hvcs, while 

at others they are 
useful. The ''oil" beetles or "blister" beetles are ex- 
amples of this kind. While young many of them live 
in the ground and feed on the eggs of the short- 
horned grasshoppers or locusts, but when full grown 
eat the leaves of plants. These beetles attack 
most kinds of cultivated plants, and quite a num- 
ber of the wild ones. The young of certain flies, 
gnats, and mosquitoes are also useful since they eat 
dead and decaying animals and plants; but when they 
are full grown they live on the blood of man and beast. 
They are known also to carry the germs of diseases 
and drop them into our food or in sores on our bodies, 
and in this way do a great deal of harm. 




HARMFUL INSECTS 



9; 






Remedies. — When harmful insects are more than 
ordinarily numerous they damage crops. At such times 
it is often best for us to help their natural enemies in 
killing them off. When we at- 
tempt this we must do it in differ- 
ent ways for different kinds of 
insects. Some we can kill by har- 
rowing the ground or by the use 
of heavy rollers for running over 
and crushing them. Others can 
be killed by spraying 
their food-plants with 
poisons which they 
will eat and be de- 
stroyed. Still others 
may be reduced in 
numbers by spraying 
with substances that 
would kill by coming 
, in contact with them. 
In small gardens we 
can pick them by 
hand, and later burn 
or crush them. Still others may be killed by poison- 
ous fumes or gases. Fires in stubble fields, on the 
prairie, and about old weed patches may be resorted to 
for killing certain others, while torches fastened to sticks 
will reach caterpillars in trees, as already suggested on 
another page. 

Some insects, as for example those with sucking 
mouth parts, must be killed by the use of kerosene 




Fig. 



98 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

"emulsion," or a mixture of coal oil and water, or by 
some other similar substance that will kill from the 
outside. But these mixtures must not be too strong or 
they will kill the plants also. They can be sprinkled on 
the bugs with spray pumps of different kinds. 

For the names of these mixtures and learning how 
they can be made, you had better write to the "bug- 
man" at the State University, who will gladly tell you 
what you wish to know. In the mean while try to find 
out all you can about how the different kinds of insects 
live, and what their natural enemies are. 

Spiders and Mites. — As a rule the life histories of 
most of our spiders are such as to make them useful. 
Both the web-makers and those that live in holes catch 
different kinds of insects upon which they feed. The 
web-makers especially destroy large numbers of flies, 
gnats, and mosquitoes; while many a moth and other 
harmful insect is entrapped by the beautiful circular 
webs that are nightly stretched for this purpose, in 
prominent places, among vegetation. 

Ground spiders are generally dark colored, while those 
that live among and on plants are lighter colored and 
more or less ornamented with spots, stripes, and bands 
so as to assist in hiding them from the insects upon 
which they feed. 

Spiders are destroyed by quite a large number of other 
kinds of animals. Wasps use them for food for their 
young, as mentioned on another page. A number of 
small ichneumon flies destroy their eggs. Birds also 
catch and eat large numbers of them. 

Mites. — The mites, which are close relatives of spiders, 



HARMFUL INSECTS 



99 



are both useful and harmful. The useful kinds, like the 
small red one which we find on the wings of the grass- 
hopper, attack insects. The harmful ones, like the itch 
and mange mites and the "red spider," attack our 
domestic animals or work on the leaves of plants. 

Dipping an animal that is suffering from mange in a 
solution of zenoleum or chloral naphtholeum, will kill the 
mites that produce it and cure the disease. Burning 
sulphur in a greenhouse where there are "red spiders" 
will destroy them. 

Myriapods, or Many legs, are of two kinds, when we 
consider what they eat. They may also be separated 
into two groups by the arrangement of their legs. The 
plant -eating kinds have two pairs of legs to each ring 
of the body, while the flesh-eating kinds have only one 
pair to each ring. The poisonous kinds are among these 
last mentioned; but few if any of the kinds found in 
Nebraska are dangerous. 




L ofC. 



CHAPTER VIII 



BIRDS 

Quite prominent among the various animals which we 
see almost every day of our lives are the birds. They 
are of great variety, and have different habits, one from 

the other. Next to the 
insects, they are the 
most numerous of all 
the forms that live on 
land. Of course there 
is a reason for this, and 
by stopping to think we 
may be able to tell just 
what this reason is. If 
we don't know it now, 
we will before we finish 
reading the present 
chapter. 

Birds differ from other 
animals by having their bodies covered with feathers 
instead of with hair, fur, or scales. Then, too, many of 
them have their front legs so changed that they can be 
used for flying through the air. Only the hind legs are 
fitted and used for perching, running, and walking. 

Birds are found all over the surface of the earth, from 
the warmer to the colder parts, both on land and water. 
It seems, too, that man has been interested in them for 




Fig. 45. Black-capped chickadee or 
Titmouse. 



BIRDS lOI 

a verv long time. More tlian three thousand years ago 
some kinds had already been tamed by the half-wild 
people who lived then. Some of the people who Hved 
in America long before it was discovered by Columbus 
also had tame birds. Perhaps a few words about these 
kinds that have been tamed will be interesting to town- 
folks. 

Birds that have been Tamed. — Chickens are first and 
foremost among these; for, of course, they are birds just 
as truly as the English sparrow or the robin. Although 
chickens are now of so many breeds, they all came from 
a single kind of wild bird, which is still found in the 
jungles or forests of southeastern Asia. This wild bird 
is called the jungle fowl or jungle bird, which is very 
much the same in its appearance as some of the tame 
game cocks of to-day. 

But the many changes in living, which the tame birds 
have been made to pass through in these thousands of 
years, while living in places away from their forest homes, 
have produced the differences that occur between the 
langshangs, Plymouth rocks, cochins, Spanish, and 
other breeds and crosses. Each country seems to have 
produced one or more well-marked forms of chickens. 
The uses of chickens are many. But these need not be 
mentioned here. 

Turkeys. — If the Old World claims the honor of fur- 
nishing man with the chickens, America can boast of an 
equally valuable prize in the turkey. What a noble 
bird! How could our ancestors, of only a few hundred 
years ago, in Europe, celebrate such days as Thanksgiving 
and Christmas without turkeys? 



102 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

While turkeys have been tamed for a much shorter 
time than chickens, they are already pretty well spread 
over the civilized world. There are, also, a number of 
distinct breeds of this bird. They came from our wild 
turkey and the Mexican wild turkey. The latter bird 
is a little but not very diffarent from ours. Not many 
years ago plenty of wild turkeys were still to be found in 
parts of Nebraska; but to-day few, if any, remain. 

Guinea Hens originally came from east Africa, 
where they live wild in the jungles. Although an easy 
fowl to raise, they are too noisy for most people. Then, 
too, their flesh is rather dark colored and less inviting 
as an article of food than that of the ordinary fowl. 
Neither does the guinea fowl lay eggs save in the spring 
or early summer. There have also been produced 
several breeds of the guinea fowl which differ quite a 
great deal from the wild form. 

The Peacock, or Pea-Fowl, like the chicken, was 
also first tamed in India or southeastern Asia, where 
quite a number of different kinds of pheasants and 
pheasant-like birds are still to be found living wild. 
Unlike the other birds mentioned above, the peacock is 
raised more for ornament than for food purposes. Its 
very large tail and other bright colored feathers make it 
a nice object to look at. Hence it is kept in gardens 
and parks among other beautiful things like the trees 
and flowers, to be looked at and admired. 

Pigeons. — All of our tame doves, or pigeons, come 
from the wild bird known as the blue rock-dove, also of 
the Old World. Some of the many breeds of pigeons 
have been raised for special purposes. One of these is 



BIRDS 103 

the "homing" dove, as it is called, and is sometimes 
used for carrying letters from place to place. On 
account of the many times that they nest during the 
year pigeons are much used for food purposes. They 
are also in demand by would-be sportsmen for trap- 
shooting, which some of us do not indorse. 

Ducks and Geese. — The different breeds of tame 
ducks are mostly off-shoots of the wild mallard found 
in the Old World and in North America. Some of the 
tamed varieties do not look much like their ancestors. 
Neither do many of the different kinds of chickens 
resemble the jungle fowl from which they came. 

Tame geese are the descendants of two kinds of wild 
ones, both of which are found in the Old World. Many 
of our wild kinds could also be tamed, and would make 
just as valuable birds for the farm as do those we have 
now; but there is no need of our going to all the trouble 
of taming these when we already have those that are 
good enough. Besides, to tame animals and to get 
them to so change their lives as to be at home under all 
the different circumstances which would be necessary, 
takes a long time. 

Canary birds, mocking-birds, parrots, and a few 
others have been caged for house birds, but these are of 
no especial use on the farm, therefore, we will say 
nothing about them here. 

Wild Birds. — It is concerning the wild, or untamed, 
birds that we are the most interested, and about which 
a great deal can be said that will be of use to the farmer 
as well as to all other persons. Nebraska is a very good 
home for such wild birds. We know of more than 



104 



.\i;\V ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



four hundred different kinds that have been found here. 
Of these about two hundred nest in the state every 
year; and perhaps as many as fifty others sometimes. 
In winter more than one hundred remain with us, while 
the others leave in fall for the warmer south country, 
only to return to us with the pleasant weather of spring. 

While there is much 
to be learned about the 
migrations, nesting, 
moulting, songs, and 
peculiar ways of living 
among the different 
birds that we may see 
in our groves and fields, 
along the streams, on 
the prairies, and about 
the hedge-rows and gar- 
den patches, the most 
important feature con- 
nected with their lives to 
us is their food habits. For it is by what they eat that birds 
make themselves of so much use to us. Of course birds 
are of different sizes and forms, and have their beaks, 
feet, wings, and tails made so as best to conform to the 
uses for which they are intended. The wood-peckers have 
hard, chisel-like beaks for cutting wood; and at the same 
time, their tail feathers are stiff and pointed so as to be 
of use as props to hold the birds in place while they are 
busily engaged at nest-making or digging for borers. 
In a like manner their long tongues are barbed so as 
to spear and drag out the worms when reached. The 




Fig. 46. Goldfinch. 



BIRDS 



105 



short, strong beaks of the sparrows and their relatives 
are exactly suited for cracking the many kinds of weed 
seeds eaten by these birds in winter, as well as for 
crushing such insects as are fed to their young in sum- 
mer. 

On account of this most important feature in connec- 




FiG. 47. Western meadowlark. 

tion with our wild birds we will talk more about what 
they eat now, and leave the description of them, their 
haunts, migrations, nest-building, etc., for another 
time. Then, too, almost everybody already knows 
some of these things about most of our common birds. 

Usefulness of Birds. — Birds can be useful to us in 
many ways. They can carry the seeds of different 
plants from place to place so as to help start new groves 
in which we may find shelter from the cold in winter 
and the heat in summer. They plant shrubs by the 
wayside that spring up and later bear good fruit. They 



I06 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

also carry the eggs of fishes and small crustaceans among 
their feathers into new waters, and feed upon the count- 
less millions of weed seeds that are scattered over our 
fields. Some kinds live almost entirely on insects; 
while others hunt out and destroy such small animals 
as mice, ground squirrels, and gophers. Still other 
birds, like some of the useful insects spoken of in another 
chapter, act as scavengers by helping to remove decay- 
ing things that would make us sick if not cleared away. 

In addition to these direct benefits which are the gifts 
of birds, we are further indebted to them for the cheer 
which their gay music, bright plumage, and pleasant 
manners bring to us. The birds form a carefully planned 
army of police, which is engaged in keeping things bal- 
anced in nature. 

But we can go even further when summing up the 
benefits that human beings may derive from birds. A 
great many kinds are excellent food, while others fur- 
nish soft feathers for pillows and warm coverlets on our 
beds. 

Birds as Enemies. — Everybody knows that birds 
sometimes also do harm. So we must try to learn just 
what this is and whether or not it is as great as some 
people would try to make us believe. Quite a number 
of different birds are continually doing things that we 
call wrong. If we only knew of these wrong things and 
nothing of the good they do, it might go pretty hard 
with the doers. 

Some of the wrong things that birds do are cherry and 
berry stealing, grain eating, grape puncturing, apple 
pecking, corn pulling, the carrying of some kinds of bark 



BIRDS 



107 



lice on their feet from one place to another, the spread- 
ing of hog cholera by crows and turkey buzzards, the 
robbing of the poultry yard, and lastly the disturbing 
of our slumbers in the morning by their singing. 

Some of these so-called crimes are genuine and are to 
be regretted. Others are more imaginary than real. 
A few of them could be prevented in part or altogether, 
while others might be made less severe if we were in- 
clined to take the trouble to do it. After all that can 
be said in favor of and against the usefulness of birds in 
general, there can be no doubt left, in the minds of think- 
ing people at least, as to the value of these creatures. 
Only ignorant and thoughtless persons will continue to 
destroy our birds after learning facts like these about 
them. 

Food Habits of Birds. — So varied is this task of 
" evening up " in nature spoken of above, that if attended 
to in the right way, the workers must be many and have 
widely different habits. That such is the fact, can 
easily be seen from the following short account of the 
food-habits of some of the 
different groups of our 
Nebraska birds. 

Grebes and loons feed 
chiefly on snails and other 
water animals such as are 
found about ponds, lakes, and 
rivers. They also destroy 
grasshoppers when found 
about their haunts. 

The gulls, with their long fiq. ^g. Kingbird. 




108 NEW ELEMENTARY ACiRICULTURE 

wings and great powers of flight, often reach far inland 
in their journeys. Whenever they do they catch large 
numbers of grasshoppers, crickets, June-beetles, and 
other common insects. Four or five kinds of these 
birds breed in large numbers in our state every summer. 

The ducks and geese, like their tame relatives, are 
also fond of insects, which they catch about the margins 
of ponds and lakes near which they build their nests 
and raise their young. Even such birds as the bittern 
and shitepoke kill many insects in addition to the small 
fishes, frogs, snails, and other animals which in part 
make up their bill of fare. 

The -different kinds of snipes and their relatives are 
also great destroyers of insects. Moving, as many of 
them do, in large flocks which spread out over the 
meadows, pastures, hillsides, and fields, they perform 
a large amount of careful police service in arresting the 
rascals among insects. They even pry them out of 
cracks and holes in the ground where they have crawled 
and are hiding during the daytime. 

The prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse, as well 
as the quail, or "bobwhite," all feed almost entirely on 
insects in summer. They also eat large numbers of 
these creatures during the remainder of the year when- 
ever they can get them. The quail especially is to 
be considered one of the very best insect destroyers, 
since it will .eat both the Colorado potato-beetle and the 
chinch-bug. Perhaps no other bird on the farm pays 
higher prices for the grain it eats than does the quail. 
Living in the hedge-rows, groves, and in ravines, where 
insects gather and lurk during the greater part of the 



BIRDS 109 

3^ear, this bird seizes large numbers of these enemies 
daily. Not only during the summer months when they 
are moving about, but all winter, too, it scratches among 
the fallen leaves and other rubbish seeking for hiber- 
nating insects of various kinds. Being a timid bird it 
seldom leaves cover to feed openly in the fields, and 
therefore does little real harm in the way of destroying 
grain. 

Even the barnyard fowls do much in the way of 
destroying many kinds of insects throughout the sum- 
mer. Where fields can be gone over by chickens, tur- 
keys, guinea hens, and ducks, little or no damage is 
done by the grasshoppers and cut- worms, unless, of 
course, these insects are too numerous to be eaten by them. 

Ordinarily doves and pigeons are not considered harm- 
ful. Yet they eat but few insects. But, on the other 
hand, many weed seeds are eaten by them. Perhaps, 
all told, the good done by them during the year will 
more than balance the harm caused by their visits to 
the grain-fields and feed -lots. 

During recent years, since we have been watching 
more carefully just what the various species of birds 
have been eating, it has been found that many of those 
which we have heretofore called rascals are now known 
to be friends. Hawks and owls, all of which were killed 
on sight by nearly every man or boy who could shoot, 
are now spared, except when caught in the very act of 
stealing chickens. This is because we know that they 
feed mostly on mice, squirrels, gophers, prairie dogs, 
and rabbits, as well as on many harmful kinds of insects. 

Our yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos feed chiefly 



no NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

on hairy caterpillars and several other kinds of insects, 
which they find lurking among the leaves of trees. They 
even come about our houses and into the towns and 
cities for their favorite insects. 

There are few persons who will not admit that the 
woodpeckers, as a family, are very useful birds. Feed- 
ing, as they do, on the young of wood-boring insects, 
they can do more relative good for the number of insects 
destroyed than if they fed on such kinds as attack the 
leaves. A single borer left undisturbed might kill a 
tree, while hundreds of leaf-eaters of the same size 
would scarcely, be noticed in the appearance, to say 
nothing about the health, of the same tree. Our com- 
monest kinds of woodpeckers in Nebraska are the flicker, 
red-headed, downy, and hairy, all of which are often 
seen about the groves and orchards, where they care- 
fully hunt for borers and other harmful insects. 

Birds like the whippoorwill, night hawk, and chimney- 
swift eat nothing but such insects as those which they 
catch in the air while flying about. The first two are 
the night fliers, while the other is one of our birds that 
fly during daytime. 

The family to which the kingbird or bee-bird 
belongs is also one that is made up of insect eaters. 
They catch such kinds as flies, butterflies, moths, beetles, 
and grasshoppers. The few bees eaten by the bee-bird 
should not count against the other members of the 
family, nor should we blame even the bee-killer himself 
too much for the occasional rascal of his kind that 
prefers to sit near a hive and catch drones and an occa- 
sional worker. 



BIRDS 



III 



Crows and their relatives, the magpies and jays, are 
sometimes called rascals. Perhaps there is a good rea- 
son in a number of cases for giving these birds so bad a 
name; but we must not judge too hastily, for sometimes 
there are good deeds done even by the greatest of ras- 
cals. After finding out what all these deeds, good and 
bad, are, we may think that enough good has been done 
at least to give the rascal another chance. All of these 
birds eat more insects, bulk for bulk, than they do of 
any other substances. 

The bluejay does much of the mischief for which we 
blame the robin, orioles, and thrushes, and then sneaks 
away like a thief. He also robs the nests of some of 
our smaller and weaker birds. To partly offset these 
mean acts he destroys large numbers of injurious insects. 

The meadowlark, orioles, and blackbirds are the most 
important destroyers of such insect pests as attack 
field crops, that we have. They are with us during the 
whole year save only 
during a few months in 
winter ; and gathering 
in large flocks, as several 
kinds do, they can wipe 
out an insect plague in 
a short time. Don't 
kill any of these very 
useful birds, for they 
more than pay for the 
food they get, aside from 
insects. 

Our sparrows and Fjg. 49. Red-headed woodpecker. 




112 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

their relatives form a very extensive family ot 
highly useful, as well as beautiful, birds. They 
spend most of their time during the summer 
months in hunting for and destroying different kinds of 
insects. But this is not all the good they do. In fall, 
winter, and early spring, when mother earth has lost 
her beautiful green dress and is clothed instead in 
somber browns or wrapped in a mantle of snow and ice, 
the longspurs, snowbuntings, snowbirds, and some of 
the sparrows that have remained with us, are busily 
engaged in gathering for themselves a living. They hop 
and fly from place to place hunting for and picking up 
little seeds of grasses, weeds, shrubs, and trees with 
which to feed themselves till the warm weather returns 
and brings back the abundant supply of nourishing 
insects. Even during this busy cold season, they 
chirrup merrily as they work, so satisfied are they with 
the kind of life they are living. 

The English, or European, house-sparrow, has the worst 
reputation of the entire family. But even it has some 
good traits, which tend to secure for it our friendship. 

The swallows are insect destroyers; and seizing their 
prey as they fly, they naturally take such forms as flies, 
gnats, and mosquitoes — our worst personal enemies. 
We should, by all means, encourage these birds to build 
their nests about our barns and sheds so that they may 
pay rent by destroying the various flies that attack and 
worry our farm animals. 

The shrikes, or butcher-birds, are genuine brigands or 
pirates, when it comes to killing other forms of life. 
They are true to their name, and butcher large num- 



BIRDS 113 

bers of insects, mice, lizzards, small snakes, and even a 
few of the smaller birds. These they take to some 
thorn bush or barbed wire fence and impale their vic- 
tims for future use or to dry up and blow away. The 
good they do will more than outweigh the harm. 

The vireos, or greenlets as they are sometimes called, 
which frequent thickets and hedgerows, live almost 
entirely on an insect diet. Their food is composed 
chiefly of little caterpillars and grubs picked off the 
leaves of the small trees and shrubs which form the 
shelter in which they make their homes. 

In the words of that pleasing writer, Dr. Elliott 
Coues:* "The warblers we have always with us, all in 
their own good time; they come out of the south, pass 
on, return, and are away again, their appearance and 
withdrawal scarcely less than a mystery; many stay 
with us all summer long, and some brave the winters in 
our midst. Some of these slight creatures, guided by 
unerring instinct, travel true to the meridian in the hours 
of darkness, slipping past like the thief in the night, 
stopping at daybreak in their lofty flights to rest and 
recruit for the next stage of the journey. Others pass 
more leisurel}^ from tree to tree in a ceaseless tide of 
migration, gleaning as they go; the hardier males, in 
full song and plumage, lead the way for the weaker 
females and yearlings. With tireless industry do the 
warblers befriend the human race; their unconscious 
zeal plays due part in the nice adjustment of nature's 
forces, helping to bring about the balance of vegetable 
and insect life, without which agriculture would be in 

*Key to North American Birds, p. 288. 



114 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

vain. They visit the orchard when the apple and pear, 
the peach, plum, and cherry are in bloom, seeming to 
revel carelessly amid the sweet-scented and delicately- 
tinted blossoms, but never faltering in their good work. 
They peer into the crevices of the bark, scrutinize each 
leaf, and explore the heart of the buds, to detect, drag 
forth and destroy these tiny creatures, singly insignifi- 
cant, collectively a scourge, which prey upon the hopes 
of the fruit-grower, and which, if undisturbed, would 
bring his care to naught. 

"Some warblers flit incessantly in the terminal foliage 
of the tallest trees ; others hug close to the scarred trunks 
and gnarled boughs of the forest kings ; some peep from 
the thicket, coppice, and the impenetrable mantle of 
shrubbery that decks tiny water-courses, playing at 
hide and seek with all comers; others, more humble still, 
descend to the ground, where they glide with pretty, 
mincing steps and affected turnings of the head this 
way and that, their delicate flesh-tinted feet just stirring 
the layer of withered leaves with which a past season 
has carpeted the ground. We may seek warblers every- 
where in the season ; we may find them a continued sur- 
prise; all mood and circumstance is theirs. " 

Much could be written concerning birds like the 
thrushes, wrens, mockingbird, and catbird. But they 
are too well known in one way or another to make it 
necessary to spend either time or space here for the pur- 
pose of introducing them anew. Suffice it to say, they 
more than pay for what they eat by killing off some of 
our most harmful insects. Then, too, they are among 
the most beautiful singers of the feathered choir. 



BIRDS 115 

The nuthatches, titmice, and others of our winter 
and early spring birds are too well known as friends to 
make it necessary here for even hinting at their usefulness. 
The eggs of many hibernating insects are quite promi- 
nent among the things eaten by them through the sea- 
son when the trees are bare. 

The robin and bluebirds need no introduction to our 
boys and girls. We all know them only to wish that 
their numbers could be greatly increased. The former, 
as he hops over the blue-grass covered lawn in search 
of cut-worms, is engaged in his chief occupation. Sev- 
enteen quarts of caterpillars, it is claimed, is the average 
number of such insects destroyed by each robin annually ; 
and of this quantity about one-half are cut- worms. 
We need not stop to ask whether or not the destruction 
of these will pay for the cherries and berries eaten. 

Summing up the work of our birds as relates to the 
destruction of insects, we have it given briefly as follows : 

"In the air swallows and swifts are coursing rapidly 
to and fro, ever in pursuit of the insects which consti- 
tute their sole food. When they retire, the night hawks 
and whippoorwills will take up the chase, catching 
moths and other nocturnal insects which would escape 
day-flying birds. Flycatchers lie in wait, darting from 
ambush at passing prey, and with a suggestive click of 
the bill returning to their post. The warblers, light, 
active creatures, flutter about the terminal foliage, and 
with almost the skill of a humming-bird, pick insects 
from the leaf or blossom. The vireos patiently explore 
the under sides of leaves and odd nooks and corners to 
see that no skulker escapes. The woodpeckers, nut- 



Il6 NEW ELEMEXTARV AGRICULTURE 

hatches, and creepers attend to the trunks and hmbs, 
examining carefully each inch of bark for insects' eggs 
and larvae, or excavating for the ants and borers they 
hear within. On the ground the hunt is continued by 
the thrushes, sparrows, and other birds that feed upon 
the innumerable forms of terrestrial insects. Few 
places in which insects exist are neglected; even some 
species which pass their earlier stages or entire lives in 
the water are preyed upon by aquatic birds. "* 

In nearly every case where the food habits of our 
birds have been carefully studied, we find that the good 
done far exceeds the possible harm that might be in- 
flicted by our birds. Allowing twenty-five insects per 
day as an average diet for each individual bird, and 
estimating that we have about one and one-half birds 
to the acre, or in round numbers 75,000,000 birds in 
Nebraska, there would be required 1,875,000,000 
insects for each day's rations. 

Again estimating the number of insects required to 
fill a bushel at 120,000, it would take 15,625 bushels of 
insects to feed our birds for a single day, or 2,343,750 
bushels for 150 days. These estimates are very low 
when we take into account the numbers of insects that 
various of our birds have been known to destroy in a 
single day. For example, the stomachs of four chicka- 
dees contained 1,028 eggs of cankerworms. Four 
others contained about 600 eggs and 105 mature females 
of the same insect. The stomach of a single quail con- 
tained loi potato-beetles; and that of another upwards 
of 500 chinch-bugs. A yellow-billed cuckoo shot at six 

* Chapman in '• Bird Life." 



BIRDS 



117 



o'clock in the morning contained forty-three tent cater- 
pillars. A robin had eaten 175 larvae of Bibio, which 
feed oil the roots of grasses, etc. 

Birds, like all other animals, feed upon that food which 
is most readily obtained, hence the insectivorous kinds 
destroy those insects which are most numerous — the 
injurious species. 




CHAPTER IX 

OTHER WILD ANIMALS 

Besides insects and their relatives and the birds, 
which are mentioned on the foregoing pages, there are 
still other kinds of wild animals to be met with in the 
country. Some of these are to be thought of only as 
friends, while others, on account of the way in which 
they live or the manner of treatment which they give 
our friends already spoken of, must be called enemies. 
Then, too, their relation to our crops, fruit-trees, garden 
plants and other growing things, must be taken into 
consideration before we can settle the question of 
friend or foe. 

Mammals. — The animals with four legs that have 
their bodies covered with hair or fur are very different 
one from the other. They also vary a good bit in size, 
as well as in their food habits and the kind of places 
where they are to be found. 

Some of them, like the prairie wolf or coyote and 
foxes, as well as the raccoon, steal our chickens and 
other poultry. The wolves sometimes also kill sheep and 
pigs, and by this means become quite a nuisance and 
deserve punishment. In some parts of the country, 
however, we are told that where these wolves have been 
killed off the jack-rabbits have increased to such an 
extent as to be quite harmful. These latter animals 
destroy our trees and bushes and eat large quantities 

n8 



OTHER WILD ANIMALS II 9 

of grain and garden truck. So it is difficult to decide 
just what is the right thing to do, since the jack-rabbit 
is too large for our hawks to feed upon. 

The skunks and weasels, as well as the mink, also kill 
our poultry whenever their accustomed food is scarce, 
or our hen-houses are extra handy for them to get into. 
Ordinarily, however, these strong-scented animals 
occupy their time in hunting out and killing and eating 
different kinds of mice, rats, and even rabbits, all of 
which do more or less harm by destroying grain and 
other products of the farm. 

Besides these flesh-eating forms just mentioned, there 
are still others, like the moles and shrews, which also 
destroy harmful forms, like the grubs of insects. 

Mice, rats, gophers, squirrels, chipmunks and their 
relatives, the rabbits, porcupine, beaver, and wood- 
chuck are all more or less injurious to vegetation upon 
which they chiefly feed. But many of these animals 
also have other habits which make it very hard for us 
to decide just what would be the best thing to do in all 
cases. 

The ground-squirrels and chipmunks are quite expert 
catchers of grasshoppers and other insects, and often 
destroy large numbers of these troublesome pests each 
year. Even many of our prairie and field mice have 
similar habits, while others must be thanked for destroy- 
ing large quantities of the seeds of weeds and other 
troublesome plants. 

Here again the birds come to our aid and assist in 
keeping things balanced, for the owls make mice and 
other small rodents their chief item of food. The 



120 NEW ELEMENTARY AtlRlL T 1. 1 T RE 

larger hawks and some of the flesh-eating mammals 
mentioned above keep down the pocket-gophers and 
prairie-dogs as well as the smaller rabbits. 

All of this only teaches us the greater necessity for 
keeping a careful watch on the way the different animals 
about us live, if we wish to profit by their existence — if 
we would leam just what use they are in the world. 

Reptiles and Batrachians. — Lastly, but by no means 
of the least importance, we must mention the turtles, 
snakes, lizzards, toads, frogs, and salamanders, of which 
there are quite a number of different kinds in Nebraska. 

The snakes feed on mice, ground-squirrels, small 
gophers, frogs, and toads, besides insects; while all of 
the other kinds of these animals are mostly destroyers 
of insects. 

There is much in the lives of all of these creatures 
that would be new and of interest, as well as value to 
us, if we only took the time to study and find out about 
them. 



CHAPTER X 

THE WEATHER OF THE FARM 

Warm Weather and Cold Weather. — The comfort 
and happiness of man and beast depend very much upon 
how cold or how warm the weather is; and even the 
plants, which furnish both our food and theirs, cannot 
grow until the sun has warmed the soil which feeds their 
roots and the air which bathes their leaves. 

How the Ground is Warmed. — The great furnace from 
which we get most of our heat is the sun. . It sends to 
us little waves of heat, many thousands of these tiny 
waves every second ; but they pass so easily and quickly 
through the air that they have little effect upon it on 
their way down; but they do warm the ground upon 
which they fall, for they cannot get through that so 
easily, and when the ground gets warm it soon warms 
up the air which lies upon it. 

How the Ground Warms the Air. — This it does in 
two ways: in the first place the bottom of the atmos- 
phere actually touches the ground and rests upon it and 
is warmed by it, just as a flat-iron is warmed when it is 
set on the stove ; the heat creeps slowly up from the hot 
griddle of the stove into the bottom of the flat-iron, or 
from the warm earth into the lower air. This process is 
called conduction. Then again, the earth warms the air 
in another way; if you hold your hand near the ground 
when it has been well heated in the sunshine, vou will 



122 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

feel the warmth coming to your hand from the ground, 
even if you do not touch it. This is called radiation; 
that is, the heat is sent forth from the earth in little 
waves much like those which come down from the sun; 
but the heat waves radiated from the warm soil are 
mostly stopped before they get very high up into the 
air, and so the air is warmed by them. That is why it 
is cold high up in a balloon ; the sun is shining there just 
as much as it is at the surface of the earth, but its 
waves pass by on their way down and do not warm the 
air much, and the waves coming back from the warmed 
earth do not get up so high, but mainly warm the lower 
air in which the plants and trees live and grow. And so 
the earth's atmosphere acts as a blanket to keep the 
earth warm by letting in the heat waves from the sun 
more readily than it lets out the heat coming back from 
the warmed earth. The glass which is put over a hot- 
bed acts in much the same way; it lets the sun's heat 
come in, but will not let the heat arising from the ground 
get out, and so the plants are kept warm. If the earth 
had no atmosphere it would not get very warm, even 
when the sun was shining upon it; and at night, what 
little warmth the soil had received from the sun during 
the day would be quickly lost, and the ground would 
become intensely cold. Everything would be quickly 
frozen solid as soon as the sun sank below the horizon. 

Warm Days and Cool Nights. — We can now under- 
stand why the days are warmer than the nights. The 
earth is receiving considerable heat from the sun during 
the day and losing a little of it all the while by radiation 
out through the atmosphere into cold space beyond. 



THE WEATHER OF THE FARM 12 3 

During the night the supply of heat from the sun is cut 
off, while the loss of heat from the earth still goes on; so 
the ground gets quite warm during the day and quite 
cold at night, and this makes the lower air also warm 
by day and cold by night. 

The ground and air are not usually warmest in the 
middle of the day, but some hours later, because the sun 
is high in the sky for several hours, both before and 
after noon, and all the while it is adding to the earth's 
store of heat. As the sun gets lower in the western sky, 
although it still furnishes some heat to the earth, it 
does not give enough now to keep up even the little 
loss of heat that is all the while going on; and so 
for the remainder of the day the earth gradually cools 
off. This cooling goes on all night until just before 
sunrise, when some light and heat begin to come to us 
again over the eastern horizon from the sun. It is, 
therefore, usually warmest about two or three hours 
after noon and coolest just before sunrise. 

Why the Sun Seems Hotter when High in the Sky. 
— If you hold a tube of paper A, Fig. 50, 
so as to point towards the sun when it is 
high in the sky, and let a beam of sunlight 
pass through it and fall upon the ground, 
it will make a little round spot of light, B, 




Fig. 50. 



124 NKW ELEMENTARY AGRICUETURE 

as large as the tube'; this is the amount of ground which 
that beam of sunHght has to warm. If you point the 
same tube of paper at the sun early in the morning when 
the sun is low in the sky, and let the beam of sunshine 
pass through it, as at C, it will now fall so slanting on the 
ground that it will light up a long narrow streak, D; 
hence this beam of sunshine has more ground to warm 
than in the other case and it cannot warm it so fast; 
besides, it has had farther to come through the air 
than the other beam has, because it came slanting, and 
thus has lost more of its heat before reaching the 
earth. We sometimes say that the sun is hotter at 
noon than it is in the morning, but what we really mean 
is that it heats the ground faster. 

Protection from Frost. — We have seen that the air 
itself is a blanket, through which the heat of the earth 
escapes but slowly; but if the air is filled with clouds 
it is a much better blanket, only in that case it both 
keeps the sun from heating the earth so hot by day and 
it also prevents the heat, which the earth has received 
during the day, from escaping so fast at night. For 
this reason, in cloudy weather the days are not usually 
very hot nor the nights very cold; but when the skies 
are cloudless we get warm days and cold nights. 

That is why we must look out for a frost in the spring 
or autumn, if it appears that the skies will be clear dur- 
ing the night. In winter we do not think much about 
it because we have no tender plants out of doors to freeze ; 
and in summer we are not afraid because we do not think 
it can get cold enough during the night to freeze, any- 
how ; but in the spring when the garden and orchard are 



THE WEATHER OF THE FARM 125 

starting into growth, or in the autumn before the fruits 
and vegetables are all cared for, we look anxiously at 
the sky on cool evenings and wonder whether there will 
be a frost. If it promises to be cloudy we are not afraid, 
for we can trust the blanket of clouds to keep the earth 
from getting too cold; but if not, we may think best to 
cover the tender plants with sheets or newspapers, or 
we may build a smudge on the windward side of the 
orchard and let the smoke drift slowly over it all night. 
The newspapers or the smoke serve the same purpose 
as the clouds would have done; they keep the heat from 
escaping so fast from the ground and from the lower air. 
There is another protection from frost which is almost 
as good as clouds or smoke, and that is a brisk wind. 
Down close to the ground is where there is the most danger 
of freezing, for it is the ground that first gets cold and that 
cools the lower air; just as it was the ground that first 
got warm in the sunshine and so warmed the lower 
air. When the ground begins to cool off rapidly in the 
night it is the lower air in contact with it that gets 
chilled the most, rather than the air in the higher tree- 
tops; and so it is the smaller trees and plants that are 
most in danger of freezing. Now, if the wind is blow- 
ing, it tends to mix the warmer air above with the cooler 
air close to the ground, with the result that neither of 
them gets cold enough to freeze the plants. It is for this 
same reason that there is often frost in the vatleys when 
there is none on the hills; the higher ground is more 
exposed to whatever wind there is. The wind brings 
warmer air to the hills and not to the valleys; 
besides that, any cold air that forms close to the ground 



126 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



on the hills, if it is not blown away by the wind, is 
apt to flow down the hillsides, somewhat as water would 
do, because it is heavier than warm air. From either 
or both of these causes the valley may be cold enough 
for a frost when the higher ground is not. 




Fig. 51. The sun's path is highest and longest in summer. 



The Heat of Summer and the Cold of Winter. — 

There are two reasons why it is hot in summer and cold 
in winter. 

In summer the sun, as shown in Fig. 51, rises in the 
northeast, is high in the sky at noon, and sets in the 
northwest. In winter, on the other hand, it rises in the 
southeast and passes low across the southern sky to 
set in the southwest. Its heating effect is, therefore, 



THE WEATHER OF THE FARM 



27 



greater in summer than in winter, because its rays are 
more nearly vertical; the summer is hotter than the 
winter for the same reason that it is hotter at noon than 
it is early in the morning. But there is a further rea- 
son ; a glance at the figure will show that in summer the 
sun has a long journey to make across the sky from 
sunrise to sunset; it rises early and sets late. In the 
winter, on the contrary, its daytime course is short and 
its night journey long. During a summer day more 
heat is received from the sun than can be given off dur- 
ing the night, and the weather gets hotter and hotter; 
while during the winter the short days and long nights 
have a contrary effect, and the earth and air get very cold. 
Warm Spells and Cold Spells. — But the heat and 
cold of day and night and of summer and winter are not 
the only changes that we feel ; we have warm spells and 




Fig. 5: 



A warm wave. 



128 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

cold Spells of a few days each, following one another, all 
the year around. We shall understand this better 
after learning, in Chapter XI, something about how the 
winds blow; but to begin with let us look at the 
weather map for March 27 to 30, 1895, ^^S- 52, which 
will show how a wave of warm weather often passes 
across the country from west to east. On the 27th 
there was a belt of unusually warm weather stretching 
from the Pacific Ocean across to the Rocky Mountains ; 
the next day this warm wave had moved to the east- 
ward of the mountains; the next day to the Mississippi 
River; and by the fourth day it had reached the Atlantic 
coast. Such warm waves are continually traveling 
across the country, and the weather will be warmer 
than usual both day and night for several days while 
one of these waves is passing. In the same way cool 
waves, or very cold waves, sometimes pass across the 
country from west to east. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE WIND 

In late years scientists have found out a great deal 
about the wind and where it comes from and where it is 
going. They have found that the wind generally 
blows in a great round eddy, sometimes half as big as 
the United States, around a center known as a "low." 
The map, Fig. 53, shows, for example, by the direc- 
tion of the arrows, how the wind was blowing on the 
morning of March 29, 1895. You will see that at that 
time there was a region marked "low" near the middle 
of the United States and two regions marked "high," 
one in the east and one in the west, and you will see by 




Fig. S3- How the wind blows. 
129 



I30 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

the arrows that the wind was moving away from the 
highs and in toward the low from all sides. Now, 
since there is not room enough for so much air to crowd 
into a small space, it has to circle around it; and finally 
it rises up into the higher regions of the atmosphere and 
so gets out of the way. These great eddies are some- 
what like the little whirlwinds which we often see, only 
they are very much larger and the wind blows toward 
them and around them in a gentle breeze, instead of a 
violent wind. In the center of the low it is generally 
calm because here the air is rising gently upward instead 
of blowing along the surface of the ground. 

What Makes the Wind Blow. — The air in a low is 
not so dense as it is elsewhere; if we should look at a 
barometer, which is an instrument for measuring the 
density of the air, we should find that in a low the 
mercury stood low down in the tube of the barometer, 
indicating that the air is not very dense; that is why 
these regions are called "lows." They are regions of 
low barometer or low pressure of the air, while in the 
highs the air is more densely packed and the barometer 
stands high. This greater density of the air is repre- 
sented in the map by packing the arrows closer together. 

We may understand why the air tries to blow away 
from these highs where it is crowded, and towards the 
lows where it is less dense, by thinking how a crowd of 
people will act if some portion of the crowd is less packed 
than elsewhere; they will surge that way until the 
greater crowding somewhere else is relieved. So the air 
moves away from the highs and toward the lows and that 
motion of the air is the wind. It would soon make the 



THE WIND 131 

low as densely packed with air as the high if it did not, 
as stated above, rise into the higher regions of the 
atmosphere, leaving the low still a region of low pres- 
sure. The winds continue to blow towards it for 
days at a time; commonly the region of low pressure 
moves slowly eastward across the country and the 
winds keep blowing towards it from all sides as it moves 
along. For instance, this low shown in Fig. 53, moved 
on eastward during the next few days towards the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, the winds all the time blowing towards it 
from all sides and circling around it just as they were 
doing when it was in the center of the United States, 
as shown in Fig. 53. 

Why the Wind Changes. — We have seen that the 
direction of the wind depends on where the low is, 
towards and around which the winds are moving. At 
a place just east of the low, as you will see by the arrows 
on the map, the wind will generally be blowing from the 
south or southeast ; if you are on the west side of the low, 
on the contrary, the wind will blow from the north or 
northwest; if you are just in the low, very likely there 
will be no wind at all. We can see now why the wind so 
often changes its direction. If, for example, there were 
a low just west of us some day we should probably have 
a south wind ; then as the low moved eastward and cov- 
ered the region where we were, the wind would die down 
to a calm ; when the low had gone by and was east of us the 
wind would begin to blow from the north. Now, suppose 
that the low does not move over us, but that it passes 
by, somewhat to the north of us. You will see by the 



132 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

map that the direction of the wind just on the south side 
of the low is apt to be from the west. In this case then 
the wind will not die down to a calm, but will gradually 
change its direction; it will blow from the south while 
the low is still to the west of us, will change into the 
west while the low is passing by, and will finally settle 
in the north or northwest when the low has gone on 
farther east. 

The Cause of Brisk Winds. — The force with which 
the wind blows depends on whether the air in the low 
is very low in density or only moderately low. If the 
barometer stands very low it shows that the air is quite 
rare and in that case we may expect the winds which 
blow towards it to be quite brisk, or even violent. In 
summer the air is often not much more dense in the 
highs than it is in the lows, and then there are only 
gentle breezes; in March and April the lows are more 
apt to be especially low and to cause high winds; but 
such lows are liable to come along at any time and give 
us brisk winds while they are passing. 

South Winds Bring Warm Weather. — We can now 
understand the behavior of the warm wave shown in 
Fig. 52." Let us compare this map with the map Fig. 53. 
The low shown in Fig. 53 was moving eastwardly across 
the United States; it took from March 28th to April 2d, 
five daA^s in all, to go from the Pacific to the Atlantic. 
Fig. 53 shows how far it had gone by March 29th. It 
was in South Dakota and Nebraska, with warm south- 
erly winds blowing up on the east side of it; it is 
just here on the east side of the low that the warm area 



THE WIND 133 

occurs, which is shown in Fig. 52, on March 29th, and we 
can easily understand how these southerly winds would 
cause warm weather, since they bring to us the air from 
the warmer southern regions; and we see, too, that 
if the low moved eastward, as lows do, it would 
naturally cause south winds to blow in states farther 
and farther east and the warm wave to move eastward, 
as the map Fig. 52 shows that it did. 

The hot winds which sometimes blow across the 
western states from the south for days at a time are 
generally caused by a low which moves very slowly 
eastward, and so keeps the winds blowing in almost the 
same direction for a long time. 

Cold Waves and Blizzards. — On the west side of a 
low, as Fig. 53 shows, northerly winds generally prevail 
and they naturally make the weather colder, because 
they come from the colder regions to the north of us. 
Thus while a warm wave generally occurs on the east side 
of a low and moves eastward with it, a cool wave, some- 
times indeed a very cold wave, occurs on the west of the 
low and follows it across the country. If, as often hap- 
pens, this cold north wind brings with it a fall of snow, 
it may amount to a severe storm, or "blizzard. " When 
the north wind dies out and the cloudy skies clear up 
we are apt to have one or two very cold nights, because, 
as explained in Chapter X, clear skies, although they 
give warm days, tend to produce cold nights. The 
lowest temperatures that we get come usually on some 
clear night after a blizzard has passed which has brought 
down from the far North a mass of cold air, and left it 



134 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



to get still colder under a cloudless sky at night. If a 
low, followed by one of these cold waves, moves far 
southward, instead of pursuing its more ordinary path 
eastward, it may do much damage by carrying the cold 
weather far into the Southern states, where the more 
tender vegetation is unaccustomed to such low tem- 
peratures. 




CHAPTER XII 

CLOUDY AND RAINY WEATHER 

If we watch the steam spouting from a tea-kettle we 
shall notice that just where it comes from the spout it 
is quite invisible; a little farther out it becomes a cloud 
of visible steam. If the kettle were of glass we should 
see that the steam inside it does not look like steam at 
all, but is as transparent and invisible as the air itself. 
In fact, it is a gas like the air; it is the water of the kettle 
converted into a gas by the heat of the stove. Let us 
call it "vapor" while it is hot enough to be an invisible 
gas, and "steam" when it has cooled and become visible. 
Now, this steam is no longer a gas, but is composed of 
tiny drops of water, and the only reason that they do 
not fall to the floor at once is because they are so small 
that they fall but slowly. At first they are drifted up- 
ward by the currents of hot air rising from the stove; 
probably they do finally settle to the floor, or to the 
walls of the kitchen. 

How the Clouds are Formed. — The atmosphere al- 
ways contains invisible watery vapor like that in the tea- 
kettle ; it has been evaporated from the ponds and streams 
and from the damp soil by the sun's heat, just as the 
vapor has been formed from the water in the tea-kettle 
by the heat of the fire ; only not so fast, because the ponds 
do not get so hot. And just as the vapor in the kettle 
may cool into steam, so the vapor in the air may cool 
to form clouds. 

135 



> 



136 NKW EI.EMEXTARV ACRRTLTrRE 

Clouds, then, are not vapor, but are composed of tinv 
drops of water just like steam; they may be drifted up- 
ward by ascending currents of air, or they may slowly 
settle to the earth. If they do the latter we call it a fog, 
and we can see the tiny drops of water drifting about us, 
and settling to the earth; if the drops are larger they 
fall faster and we call it a mist or rain. Rain-drops are 
just like the drops of w^ater of which clouds are com- 
posed, only they are larger and fall more quickly to the 
earth. 

Snow, Hail, and Sleet. — If the air is very cold up 
w^iere the moisture is condensing, it may form flakes of 
snow instead of drops of rain ; that is, it may condense into 
tiny crystals of ice, which arrange themselves in loose, 
branching masses, just as the vapor of a living-room 
produces feathery forms when it condenses against a 
cold window-pane. If drops of rain are formed high in 
the air they may start for the earth as ordinary rain- 
drops, but, by falling through a cold layer of air on their 
way down, be frozen into little balls of ice called 
sleet. Sometimes these balls are larger and are called 
hailstones, which are often made up of harder and 
softer layers of ice, as if they had fallen from a great 
height and had passed through several different layers 
of cold air, which have added to the hailstone layers 
of hard and soft ice. 

Dry Air and Moist, or Sultry, Air. — The air always 
contains some invisible watery vapor ; if it contains very 
much of it on a summer day w^e say that the air feels 
"sultry." It feels uncomfortable to us, and the reason 
is this: when we perspire and the sweat evaporates it 



CLOUDY AND RAIXY ^VEATHER I 37 

produces a sensation of coolness ; while if the air is sultry, 
the sweat cannot evaporate because the air is already 
full of vapor and cannot take up any more. Although 
it feels uncomfortable to us it is good for the 
plants, because it does not dry them out so fast. The 
time when the plants suffer is when the air is not only 
hot, but also dry ; that is, when it contains but little watery 
vapor ; then the water is rapidly drawn out of the leaves 
of the plants to supply the air with vapor and the leaves 
wither, and perhaps the plants are killed. The "hot 
winds," which are sometimes so trying to the crops in 
the Western states, are dangerous, not so much because 
they are hot winds as because they are dry winds. 

What Makes It Rain? — We have seen that clouds 
are formed by the cooling of the invisible vapor of the air 
till it condenses into little floating drops of water; and 
that rain is only these same clouds when cooled so fast 
that the drops are too big to float, and so fall quickly 
to the earth. It always rains when moist air is suffi- 
ciently cooled. This cooling may be brought about 
in various ways. 

First. On the east side of a low, the winds blowing 
from the south or southeast bring vapor-laden air from 
the Gulf of Mexico, or from the Atlantic Ocean; as this 
moist air moves northward into a cooler clime it is 
likely to condense into clouds, and perhaps to fall as 
rain. When a low is approaching us from the west, 
therefore, we often get cloudy or rainy weather. 

Second. After a low has passed, the wind, as we have 
seen, commonly blows from the north; this chills the air 
and often produces rain or snow on the west side of a 



138 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

low, especially in winter. If the wind has been blowing 
from the south, on the east side of the low, bringing 
moist air with it, then when the low has passed and the 
wind changes into the north, the cold air will blow 
along the surface of the earth, driving in under the warm, 
moist air, and bringing down its moisture as rain or 
snow. If it does not rain when a low is approaching 
from the west it often does rain or snow as soon as the 
low has passed and the wind changes into the north. 

Third. We have seen that in the center of a low the 
air is generally rising, because it is not so dense and 
heavy there as it is elsewhere; as it rises it cools, and as 
it cools its vapor is condensed into clouds or rain. 

We see then that in and around a low is the place to 
look for rainy weather. Lows are apt to bring clouds 
and rain; highs, on the other hand, usually bring clear 
skies and fair weather. 



CHAPTER XIII 

STORMS 

When a low moves across the country it is apt, as we 
. have seen, to bring stormy weather of various sorts — 
rain, snow, and wind. A low is, therefore, often called 
a storm-center. But there are several kinds of storms 
which a low may bring that are of a more damaging 
sort, such as thunder-storms, hail-storms, and torna- 
does. 

Thunder-Storms. — Thunder-storms usually occur on 
the southeast side of a low; here the air is warm and 
moist, and is blowing from the south or southeast on its 
way to the low. It is overlaid by a layer of cooler, heavier 
air, which lies upon it like a blanket and presses down 
upon it. The air underneath tries to escape upward; 
presently it makes a break, tears a big rent in the air- 
blanket above it, and pours up through it. The warm air 
rushing upward and the cool air coming downward to 
take its place are what cause the thunder-storm. Let us 
see how they will act; before the storm, the air has felt 
sultry— that is, moist and hot— and the wind has blown 
from the south or southeast ; it has made a break through 
the upper air and started a thunder-storm somewhere 
to the west of us. Often we may see the beginning of 
the storm as a "thunder-head" — that is, a tall, towering 
mass of cloud, spreading out at the top like a sheaf of 
oats — or sometimes flowing out on one side only, looking 

139 



I40 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

like the horn of a blacksmith's anvil. The storm drifts 
towards us, generally from the west, because the upper 
air in which the rent has been made usually moves east- 
ward, even though the air at the earth's surface is blow- 
ing the other way. As the storm comes near us we see 
a confused mass of dark clouds rolling and tumbling 
towards us like a huge roll of dirty cotton, being rolled 
and tumbled over by the warm air rising and the cold 
air coming down, just as the roll of cotton would if you 
rolled it between your hands, one hand moving up and 
the other down. We say "there is wind in that cloud, " 
or rather behind it; for we have learned that such a 
looking cloud has a blast of cool wind rushing out from 
under it, driving the dust before it, and taking the place 
of the warm, sultry air which has been blowing towards 
the storm cloud. About the same time big drops of rain 
begin to fall. These come from the moist air which has 
been carried aloft and cooled ; often they are carried 
so high by the strong upward draft of air that they are 
frozen into hailstones. Thunder and lightning usually 
come with such a storm, because the violent rubbing 
and mixing together of warm and cold air produce elec- 
tricity, which makes the flashes of light and tears the 
air asunder so that it falls together again with a loud 
noise. The sound waves also rebound from neighboring 
walls of cloud and so are re-echoed in a long-continued 
rumble. After the storm has passed on to the east, we 
may often see its west side lighted by the rays of the 
afternoon sun and spanned by a rainbow; for it is still 
raining from the cloud, and the sunlight shining on the 
distant raindrops is broken up into the rainbow colors. 



STORMS 141 

Tornadoes.— A thunder-storm may be many miles in 
length, and may travel for hundreds of miles before it 
dies out; the opening in the layer of upper air is a long, 
narrow rent, perhaps several miles long and a few 
miles, or less than a mile, wide, and it advances broad- 
side across the country. But sometimes the warm, 
lower air bores its way up through a small round open- 
ing no larger than a farm, instead of through a long, 
narrow rent; up through this opening the warm air 
rushes like the draft of air up a chimney: in that case it 
becomes a tornado instead of an ordinary thunder- 
storm. As the air is drawn in at the base of this chim- 
ney-like opening, it begins to revolve like an ordinary 
dust whirlwind, only with terrific violence; as this whirl- 
ing column of moist air ascends, it cools and becomes a 
column of cloud; it spreads out funnel-shaped at the 
top and may sometimes be seen moving slowly across 
the country. Its lower end, where it touches the earth, 
revolves so fast that it tears everything to pieces in its 
path. A tornado, or a "cyclone" as it is popularly 
called, differs from an ordinary thunder-storm, mainly 
in its small size and its violent rotation. Usually 
thunder and lightning, and rain or hail, accompany a 
tornado, but its destructive power is chiefly due to the 
enormous speed with which it revolves. Like thunder- 
storms, they occur in hot, sultry weather; they approach 
from some westerly direction, and are caused by a 
strong updraft of moist, warm air. 



CHAPTER XIV 

WEATHER PREDICTIONS 

It is by knowing where the lows and highs are on any 
particular day, that the Weather Bureau is able to tell 
something about the probable weather of the next day 
or two. Weather observers are stationed throughout 
the United States and Canada, who take observations 
every morning and night at the same hour; they note 
how their thermometers and barometers stand, how 
the wind is blowing, and whether the sky is clear or 
cloudy. All these observations are at once telegrap^hed 
to Washington, where a map is drawn showing exactly 
what the weather was in all parts of the country, and 
especially where the highs and lows were situated at 
the time. Since we have learned about how fast and in 
what direction the lows and highs are in the habit of 
traveling, it is possible to tell about where they will be 
by the next day, and so to tell what kind of weather 
they will probably bring in different parts of the country. 
But this cannot be told with entire certainty, because 
a low may travel a little faster or a little slower than 
usual, or it may swerve somewhat from its ordinary 
direction, in which case the weather predictions will, 
of course, prove incorrect. A careful record is kept 
of the predictions made by the Weather Bureau, 
and whether they came true or not ; it shows that about 
five predictions out of six prove to be correct. It is not 

142 



WEATHER PREDICTIONS I43 

possible, however, to tell much about the weather for 
more than a day or two in advance, because in three or 
four days a low may get to quite a different part of the 
country from what was expected. 

Weather Maps. — The maps printed by the Weather 
Bureau every day are distributed over the country, and 
posted in public places, and the pupil will do well to 
examine them from day to day, if he has the opportunity, 
and learn to understand them and to see for himself 
how the weather areas travel across the country, and 
what kind of weather they carry with them. He will 
not always find the lows and highs as well defined as 
they are in Fig. 53, in which case the wind will not be 
blowing as regularly toward them as it is in the figure, 
but he will find that, in general, the direction of the wind 
and the distribution of clouds and rain occur about as 
has been explained in these chapters on the weather. 

Almanac Weather. — The various almanacs often un- 
dertake to tell in advance what the weather will be 
throughout the entire year, but these predictions are 
not much better than guesses. Of course anybody can 
tell something about the probable weather of any sea- 
son. We know from experience about what part of the 
year is hot, or cold, or rainy, or windy; but it is plain 
that the almanac could not safely predict that rain, or 
warm weather, or high winds would come on a certain 
day, because it could not come to all parts of the country 
on the same day; at least it does not, as the weather 
maps show. A storm center or a wave of warm weather 
moves across the country and takes, as a rule, several 
days or a week to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic. 



144 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

When it is warm in one part of the country it is cold in 
another ; or it rains in the East and is clear in the Missis- 
sippi Valley. If the almanac prediction is made rather 
indefinite and only means "about this time look for 
rain, " very likely a storm will come near enough to that 
time to make the prediction seem to come true. But 
no one has yet found a way to tell beforehand when it 
will rain, or be hot or cold, in a particular state or city, 
except by knowing from telegraphic reports where the 
lows and highs are at the time. 

The Moon and the Weather. — It is a common no- 
tion that the moon and the planets influence the weather ; 
but scientific men have never been able to find any good 
evidence that they do. For instance, many people 
believe that the weather is likely to change about the 
time the moon changes ; that is when the moon becomes 
new, or full, or at the quarter; and they say, "I have 
often noticed that it does. " And that is probably true, 
because the moon changes so often, and the weather 
changes so often, that very, very frequently they would 
change together ; but the only way to find out whether 
there was any connection between the two would be to 
keep careful records, for a number of years, of all the 
changes of the moon, and of all the changes of the 
weather, and then to see whether the changes of weather 
and the changes of the moon came on the same day 
more often than they came on different days. Scien- 
tific men have done this very carefully for many years, 
and they find that the weather changes just as often 
when the moon does not change as it does when the 
moon does change. They have not been able to find any 



WEATHER PREDICTIONS 



145 



connection whatever between the weather and the plan- 
ets; heat and cold, rain and sunshine, wind and calm, 
come without any reference to the heavenly bodies, so 
far as careful records show, but they come according to 
laws of nature that we are beginning to understand ; laws 
of nature given by the bountiful Creator in order that 
"seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, may not 
fail. " 




CHAPTER XV 

THE SOIL 

By the word soil we mean what Is commonly called 
" dirt, " or "earth. " When it is very wet and sticky we 
speak of it as "mud," and when very dry it is carried 
about from place to place or blown about by the wind 
in the form of " dust. " 

How Soil is Made. — In some places where a deep 
hole or a railroad "cut" has been dug a very striking 
change in the nature of the walls of the cut, as it goes 
deeper into the ground, can be seen. At the top there 
will be a layer of very fine particles of earth, which is 
darker in color than the rest and which contains many 
little roots of grass and trees, and also little open places 
or holes where bugs and worms have made their nests 
or crawled about. Below this there will be found earth 
which is made up of the same very small particles, but 
which is lighter in color and packed together much 
more closely, and which may have in it large grains of 
sand or little pebbles. Under this will be seen a deep 
layer of sand, the particles of which get larger and larger 
as the cut goes deeper and deeper into the ground until 
the sand gets so coarse that it is called " gravel. " If the 
cut goes down into this gravel, it will be seen that the 
little pebbles which are found in the upper part of it keep 
getting larger the deeper it goes, until finally great stones, 
and at last solid rock, are reached. These different kinds 

146 



THE SOIL ■ 147 

of earth are not in layers which are sharply divided 
from each other, but the change is a gradual one, from 
finer to coarser particles of rock, all the way down. 

This gives us an idea as to how the soil, which now lies 
on the top of the ground, was made. A very, very long 
time ago the top of the ground was all solid rock, like 
that which we now find down deep in it. But little by 
little the cold weather of the winters and the warm air 
and rains of the summers caused it to crack and large 
stones would break off. Then these stones in their 
turn were broken up into smaller ones, partly by the 
freezing in winter of the water that would get into the 
small cracks in them — just as a jug or bottle will break 
if it is filled with water and the water allowed to free25e — 
and partly by the decay and crumbling caused by the 
action of the air and moisture on the material of which 
the rocks were made, just as a piece of iron which is 
left out in the damp air soon gets rusty and begins to 
crumble off at the edges. So the stones kept getting 
broken up into smaller and smaller pieces, until at last 
they were no bigger than the fine sand or clay which we 
find near the top of the ground now. Since it is the 
weather and its changes which cause the rock to break 
up in this way, the action is called "weathering," and 
the fine, earthy material which is made in this way 
is sometimes called " rock- waste. " This breaking up 
of the rocks is going on all of the time wherever the big 
rocks are found on or near the top of the ground, but in 
most places the weathering has gone on for so many 
thousands of years that the large rocks are now buried, 
deep under the rock- waste, which has been made from 



148 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

those rocks which used to lie on the top of the ground. 
It is only where the wind has blown the fine rock- 
waste away, or where running water has washed it down 
to some lower place as fast as it was made, that the 
large stones or solid rock can still be seen. 

Rock- Waste is the principal part of all soil, but it is 
not generally called soil until it has become mixed with 
a considerable amount of vegetable mold, or decayed 
or rotten plant roots, stems, and leaves. Often these 
decayed plants get mixed in with the sandy or gravelly 
rock-waste before it gets broken up fine enough to be 
called soil, because moss and other small plants like it 
begin to grow on the mother rock itself, and when they 
die in the winter they fall down into the cracks and 
decay there. This decaying vegetable matter often 
helps to hasten the breaking-up of the rock particles 
against which it lies, by causing them to decay and 
crumble more quickly, so that when these rotted plants 
get in among the pebbles they are much more easily 
weathered down to fine rock- waste. As this goes on 
year after year, more and more of the decayed plants, 
or vegetable mold, gets mixed with the rock- waste, 
until finally the fine particles of rock are all so small and 
so closely mixed with the decayed roots and other parts 
of plants that we can no longer see them separated from 
one another. This mixture of very fine rock-waste and 
vegetable mold is the soil which we see all about us. 
It is the decayed vegetable matter in it which gives it its 
dark color, and generally the more of this matter there 
is in a soil the darker it will be. 

Kinds of Soil. — If all the rock from which soil has been 



THE SOIL I4Q 

produced had been the same in the first place, we would 
find almost the same kind of soil all over the earth. 
But this was not the case. In some places the rock 
was sandstone and when the weathering had broken 
this up, and it had been changed into soil, there was 
formed a loose, sandy soil through which water can 
settle very easily, and which does not get muddy and 
sticky when it is wet. This kind of soil is frequently 
called a "light " soil. Then in other places the rock was 
limestone, and when this was changed into soil the parti- 
cles formed were very fine and not in grains like sand, 
but more powdery, like flour. This kind of soil, which is 
known as clay, packs together when it gets wet, and is 
very sticky and muddy. Water cannot settle through 
it at all easily, because the tiny particles stick so close 
together and leave no open spaces between them, such 
as there are in sandy places. This kind of a soil is usually 
called a "heavy" one. Other kinds of rock produce 
still other kinds of soil, but these two are by far the most 
common ones. Some soils are very sandy and contain 
little or no clay, while others are very clayey and have 
very few sand grains in them, and there are all grades 
between these two. If the soil is too sandy it is not 
good for plants because the water from rains can settle 
away from it so easily and it then dries out and the 
plants die for want of water. On the other hand, if 
the soil is almost all clay, water cannot soak down into 
it, and when it rains the rain-water all runs away on the 
surface so that as soon as it stops raining there will be 
but little water in the soil for the plants to get. 
Then, too, there are other varieties of soil caused by 



150 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

the fact that in some places the soil lies just where it 
was formed from the rocks and is only changed by the 
things that grow on it, while in other places the wind 
blows away the lighter parts of the soil, or water washes 
away the finer parts. Then, again, the dust which is 
blown away from one place may be dropped in another 
and mix with the soil already there, or produce great 
beds of soil which was once formed from rock in another 
part of the country, or even in another cotmtry. A very 
large part of the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska, 
for example, is covered with soil of this kind, in some 
places more than a hundred feet deep, which many years 
ago was carried in here by the very strong winds that 
blew then. In a similar way, water may carry soils, or 
parts of soils, from one place to another. It is easy to 
notice how, after a heavy rain, when the water in a 
stream or river is running very swiftly, it is very muddy 
with the soil that it is carrying away, and how, after the 
rain stops and the water runs more slowly, it drops its 
load of mud, or soil, in some place where something 
stops the swift current of the stream, and gets clear 
again. Soils which still lie in the place where they were 
formed from the mother-rock are called "local" soils. 
Those which have been brought in from some other place 
by wind or water, or in any other way, are called "trans- 
ported" soils. Transported soils are generally more 
easily cultivated and better for crops, because it is the 
finer, lighter parts of the soil, especially the vegetable 
mold, which is apt to be carried away by the wind or 
water, and this is the best part of the soil for crops to 
grow in. 



THE SOIL 



151 



Why Plants Grow in the Soil.— In order that plants 
may grow they must have food, just the same as animals 
must. But the kind of food that plants need is different 
from that which animals eat. A very large part of the 
food of plants is air and water. They can take in the air 
that they need through their leaves, but the water they 
get the> have to take in through their roots. So there 
must be a place for the roots to get water. This is one 
of the uses of the soil. When it rains the water falls 
on the ground and settles into the soil. The soil parti- 
cles get wet, and the little open spaces between them 
get filled with water, which stays there a long time, and 
the plant roots running through the soil find the water 
there which they need to drink. If the soil were still 
in the form of rock, the water could not soak into it, but 
would run off from the surface into a river somewhere; 
or if the soil were not so fine and did not have this power 
of holding water in its tiny open spaces the rain-water 
would settle down through it very rapidly and be lost 
below, so that in either case the plant roots could not 
find it. What really happens, though, is that when the 
rain falls on the surface of the ground the water creeps 
along from one soil grain to another, until the rain-water 
has all been soaked into the ground, just as when you dip 
one end of a piece of cloth into some water you can see the 
water go creeping along the cloth until it is wet to some 
distance away from where it touches the water. Then 
when a plant root grows into this moist ground and 
begins to drink up the water it finds there, as fast as 
the water in one place is taken away by the little root 



152 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

some more comes creeping along from the wetter ground 
near by (just as when you light the lamp and the oil is 
burned from the upper end of the wick some more oil 
comes creeping along up the wick from thread to 
thread to take the place of that which has been burned), 
so that the plant root can keep drawing the water it 
needs without having to grow away from the place 
where it begins to drink in the water. So the soil feeds 
water to the plant root just as the wick in the lamp 
feeds oil to the flame. 

But the plants need other food besides air and water. 
In order to grow strong stems and form fruit or grain, 
they have to have certain kinds of mineral matter, the 
same as animals have to have certain kinds of mineral 
matter in their food in order to build up their bones and 
other parts of their bodies. The kinds of mineral matter 
which plants need are found in most of the mother- 
rocks from which the soil was formed. But the only 
way the plants can get this mineral food is from 
the water which comes in through the plant's roots. 
Now, of course, the rocks, even though they con- 
tain the right minerals for the plant food, will not 
dissolve in the water, and so cannot be carried into 
' the plant through its roots. It is only after these rocks 
have been broken up and changed by the weather, and 
more especially by the action of the decaying vegetable 
mold, that the part of them which plants want for food 
will dissolve in the water in the soil, and so go in with 
it into the plant's roots. Hence, rock-waste, even when it 
contains the right kinds of mineral matter, cannot give 



THE SOIL 153 

it to plants for food. It is only after it has been changed 
to soil that it will furnish food for the crops. 

How Soil is Made Rich. — By a "rich," or "fertile," 
soil we mean one that will furnish plenty of plant food 
to crops that are to grow upon it. For this, two things 
are necessary : first, that there shall be plenty of the right 
kind of mineral matter in the rock-waste of which the soil 
is made; and second, that there shall be plenty of the 
decayed vegetable mold to help change the rock- 
waste into the right condition so that it can dissolve 
in the soil water. The decayed vegetable matter also 
helps to furnish food to plants, since it contains itself 
some of the material which was once a part of a plant 
and which the new plants will need for food. 

It is easy to see that whenever a crop grows on a piece 
of soil it takes away part of the plant food that was in 
the soil. And if the crop is cut off and carried away 
from the field, the soil will lose that much of its plant 
food. So it often happens that after a great many crops 
have been grown upon a certain field, so much of the 
plant food has been carried away that there is not 
enough left to properly feed more plants, and the soil has 
lost its richness, or fertility. Such a soil is called 
"poor," "barren," or "unfertile." The only way in 
which a "barren" soil can be made to grow crops again 
is by adding to it some more plant food. Things that 
are added to soil to increase the amount of plant food 
in it, and so make it more fertile, are called "fertilizers. " 
There are two kinds of fertilizers: first, those which are 
plant foods themselves and are put directly into the 



154 ^'EW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

soil where the plant roots can get them; and second, 
those which will act on some more of the rock-waste in 
the soil and change it into a proper condition so that it 
can be used as food by plants. This second kind of 
fertilizers is mostly refuse plant substances like straw, 
corn-stalks, barn-yard manure, etc., which, when put 
into the soil, will decay and so add to the supply of vege- 
table mold in the soil. The first kinds mentioned are 
mostly mineral matter which have been prepared in the 
right form for the plant roots to take up, and which furnish 
a supply of food to plants as soon as they are put into the 
ground. They generally must be bought, and cost 
more than the second kind described; but these latter 
are much slower in theif action, and it is often several 
years before any large increase in the richness of the 
soil on which they are placed can be seen. 

Why Must Soil be Cultivated. — Some soils which 
contain plenty of mineral plant food are barren because 
they do not have water enough in them to supply the 
plants. This may be because not enough rain falls on 
them, or because the rain that falls is not held in the 
soil long enough. Of course, if too little water falls 
as rain this cannot be helped except by bringing in more 
water from a river, or well (that is, by irrigation). But 
if the soil receives enough rain-water and does not hold 
it, it can be made to do so by proper cultivation. 
Stirring the soil and breaking up the chunks of earth 
make it finer, and so better able to hold moisture. It 
is generally true that the finer the soil the better it 
will hold moisture, so cultivating any soil makes it 



THE SOIL 



155 



better fitted to supply water to plants. It also lets air 
into the soil, which helps to decay the vegetable matter 
and to change the mineral matter into plant food 
And further than this, it kills the useless weeds which 
would otherwise use the moisture and plant food which 
ought to be saved for the useful crops. 



CHAPTER XVI 

DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM 

There are four kinds of domestic animals which are 
very useful to mankind: the horse as a beast of burden, 
the pig for its flesh, the cow for its flesh and milk, and 
the sheep for its flesh and wool. 

Man by his higher intelligence has appropriated to 
his own use, whether rightfully or not, these lower 
animals. He should, therefore, strive to understand 
their ways so that they can be made still better and 
more useful to him. In this chapter we shall endeavor 
to learn something about these animals in the past, 
how they have been improved under man's control, 
how they differ in characteristics, and how they can 
best be cared for to make them most useful. 

For information concerning the appearance of animals 
before the coming of man, we must go to the geologist. 
He examines those parts of the earth's crust which were 
formed at different periods and finds remains of animals 
which inhabited the earth during those periods. In the 
earliest formations of the soil he finds low forms of life, 
such as animals without backbones, like oysters. In 
later formations the animals become more complex, 
developing finally into the wonderful organism that we 
have in our domestic animals to-day. 

The Horse. — The earliest trace of the horse shows 
him to have been about as large as a medium-sized dog. 

156 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM I 5/ 

In certain beds of rock in Wyoming and New Mexico, 
there has been discovered the skeleton of a horse about 
sixteen inches high with four complete toes on the front 
foot and three behind. On each toe was a horny mate- 
rial called hoof. With the four toes in front there was 
also found a small splint bone, or rudimentary toe, 
showing that the horse first had five toes. The teeth 
were sharp like those of a monkey, instead of broad and 
flat as in horses to-day. This horse lived about three 
million years ago. He inhabited swampy ground. 
The feet of a modern rhinoceros are very similar to the 
feet of this early horse. These two animals were then 
quite alike. When horses took to higher and harder 
ground most of the weight of the animal was thrown 
upon the middle toe, which in later generations became 
larger and larger and the outer toes smaller and smaller. 
If an organ is not used, the flow of blood in that part is 
lessened, and the organ becomes smaller. The first and 
fifth toes disappeared, then the second and fourth. 
The skeleton of our modern horse shows the presence of 
two splint bones between the knee and fetlock joint. 
These bones are the rudiments or last traces of what 
were once toes. All horses have splint bones, but these 
are not considered blemishes until they become enlarged 
on account of being bruised. 

Our modern horse, then, has but one toe, and he walks 
on its very end. A large, horny encasement, called hoof, 
has been developed to protect the tender tissues. If the 
horse is driven on hard, stony roads the hoof gradually 
wears off and he becomes foot-sore. Iron shoes are 
tacked on to protect the hoof. 



158 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

During past ages the feet and legs of the horse have 
lengthened considerably. His heel behind we call the 
hock joint; in front it is the knee joint. That part of 
the leg between the knee and fetlock corresponds to the 
palm of your hand, that between the hock and rear fet- 
lock (or ankle) the sole of your foot. The fore fetlock 
corresponds to the joint where your finger joins the 
hand. As the legs lengthened it became necessary for 
the neck also to lengthen so that the horse could reach 
to the ground for food. 

When man came upon the earth the horse was about 
the size of a small pony, with long, shaggy hair and 
large coarse head. Carvings have recently been found 
in a cave in France where early cave men lived, which 
represent such a horse with a string attached to the 
head, showing that it was in those very early times a 
beast of burden. Most horses, however, were wild 
during those early times and a few are still undomes- 
ticated. 

There were five different types of wild horses, all 
found in Europe and Asia, and these are the ancestors 
of our domestic horses. That type of wild horse called 
Tangun,. or the piebald horse, inhabited the high pla- 
teau of Thibet in Central Asia. They were about the 
size of our Shetland ponies of to-day. It is said their 
hair was about four inches long, white in color with large 
bay spots. These horses were protected by mountains 
and remained unmolested for years. They also remained 
unmixed with other wild horses. It is thought the 
Aryans first used these horses in their conquests about 
three thousand five hundred years ago. They were well 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM J 59 

suited for riding in war, because they were strong and 
active for so small an animal. The Tangun was not 
only fleet and enduring, but also intelligent. It is sup- 
posed that most of our modern circus horses are de- 
scendants of the Tanguns. 

The Bay Horse. — Just east of the Caspian Sea there 
early existed a wild bay horse. The people there, the 
Tartars, called these horses Tarpans. One of the early 
Tartars has given this description of them. 

"They form large herds which are subdivided into 
smaller troops, each troop or company headed by a 
stallion. Each of the • great divisions is headed by a 
sultan stallion. Each company moves forward over the 
steppes in lines, the leader, who keeps continually on 
the watch for enemies, in front. If danger is scented, 
one goes forward to reconnoiter. If he discovers real 
danger he makes a sharp, shrill neigh, blows with his 
nostrils, and the whole herd gallops away, the mares and 
colts ahead, and the stallions behind. If a wolf or bear 
is met, the leader stallion rises on his haunches and 
strikes with his fore feet with great force. He usually 
kills the enemy. If he should be worsted, another 
stallion takes his place, and if successful is declared 
champion of the herd. If there is a large pack of 
wolves, the herd forms in a mass with the yoimg colts in 
the center, the stallions attacking in a body. " 

We do not know when the bay horses were domesti- 
cated, but as early as 2000 B. C, the Aryan people, 
motmted on these horses, overran and conquered Egypt. 
They were later introduced into Arabia, where, under 
the care of the Arabs, they became renowned. These 



l6o NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

horses were rather small in size and bay in color with 
black manes and tails. They possessed strong, fine 
bones and hard muscles and tendons. They were fleet 
and very enduring. 

The Dun Horse. — From a point just north of the 
Caspian Sea, extending east to the borders of China, 
there early existed what was called the dun horse. 
They were low and long in body, with slender but strong 
legs. The hair on the fetlock was heavy, as was also the 
mane and tail. They also had a peculiar black strip 
extending along the back from mane to tail and "cross 
bars on the knee and hock joints. Such markings are 
occasionally found on horses to-day, which is proof that 
they have some of the blood of the original dun horses. 

They were about fourteen hands (56 inches) high, 
and were noted for their intelligence. The Shetland 
pony and our western mustangs and Indian ponies are 
probably descendants of the dun. The latter were intro- 
duced into America by the early Spaniards. 

The White Horse. — This horse probably, inhabited 
both Europe and Asia. He was larger than the horses 
already described, more massive and compact in build. 
He was only about fourteen hands high, but was 
heavy. When domesticated this horse was not used to 
any extent in war. Being white in color he was sacred 
to the people, and an object of worship in their religion. 

Black Horse of Flanders. — This horse, inhabiting 
north central Europe, was the largest of all wild horses. 
This was probably because of the abundant supply of 
food provided in that section. He was probably larger 
than any of our modern horses. All of our heavy draft 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM 



l6 



breeds have the blood of this black horse of Flanders, as 
he was called. He had a large head, bristles around the 
mouth, short, thick neck, heavy shoulders, broad, thick 
body, strong legs and feet, and heavy mane and tail. 

These different races of wild horses blended together 
are the ancestors of our modern horses. Our horses 
to-day are of all colors because of a mingling of these 
different types. v 

Modern Horses. — Horses are divided into three gen- 
eral classes : draft, coach, and light or roadster horses. 

The principal breeds of draft horses in America are 
the English Shire, Clydesdale, and Percheron. 

Draft Type. — All draft breeds possess certain quali- 
ties in common. They are large in size, weighing from 
1,500 to 2,100 pounds. They have rather short, broad 




Ftg. 54. The draft horse on the left is a Percheron stallion weigh- 
ing 2, TOO lbs. The coach horse in the middle is a German coach or 
Oldenburg stallion weighing 1,600 lbs. The roadster on the right is a 
Kentucky saddle-horse. 



l62 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

heads; short, thick necks; broad, deep chests 'and 
shoulders; broad, short, well-muscled backs, broad hips, 
short, strong legs, and good-sized feet. 

A horse with a man on his back can pull a heavier 
load on a level pull than he can without such a burden, 
because the extra weight of the man makes him cling 
to the ground better. Horses often slip back when 
pulling hard because they have not sufficient weight to 
make their feet cling to the ground. So a certain 
amount of weight is needed in draft horses. Then 
horses with rather short legs can pull more on a hard 
road than horses with long legs, because, as with a pry- 
under a rock, more power can be exerted if the weight 
is near the lower end of the pry. But if the ground is 
soft, like plowed ground, horses with short legs tire 
quicker, so the best length of the legs will depend upon 
the kind of work done. 

The English Shire. — As the name implies, this breed 
of horses was developed in England. It is our largest 
breed. Like all draft breeds, it is supposed to contain 
much of the blood of the black horse, already described 
under wild horses. During the earlier history of Eng- 
land this horse was used in war. Cattle in those days 
were used for farm work. Before the invention of gun- 
powder men fought with sword and spear. They wore 
heavy armor plates to protect themselves. There was 
so much metal to carry that horses with great size and 
strength were needed. Later when fire-arms were intro- 
duced, lighter and more active horses were found to be 
superior. Then it was that these heavy English horses 
were put into use as draft horses. 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM 163 

In England the roads are quite level and smooth, so 
these heavy, compact, low-down horses are most satis- 
factory for the carting that has to be done in their cities. 

The English shires are sometimes chestnut or sorrel 
in color. Bay and brown are also quite common. 
They often have a white stripe in the face and always 
have long hair, called feather, on the fetlock joints. 
These horses are somewhat slow of motion, but are faith- 
ful when put to a heavy pull. They have large, strong 
legs and feet, which is a desirable characteristic in draft 
horses. 

The Clydesdale. — These horses come from Clyde, 
Scotland. In many respects they are quite similar to 
the Shires. Both have the feather on the feet and 
they are often quite alike in color. The breeders of 
Clydesdale horses are making them more active than 
Shires, but somewhat smaller in size. They are usually 
bay in color with a lighter shade of bay on the legs. 

Percherons. — This breed of horses was developed in 
the province of Perche, France. Besides the wild 
black horse, this breed, no doubt, has the blood of the 
wild bay, which found its way into Arabia. We suppose 
the Perc heron has Arabian blood, because horses were 
introduced from that country into France during war- 
ring conquests. Then, too, the Perc heron has a dispo- 
sition quite like the Arabian. The Arabs are very skillful 
horsemen. Their kind treatment of animals has devel- 
oped in their horses gentle dispositions and wonderful 
intelligence. Many instances are recorded of how these 
Arabs' lives have been saved by their faithful horses. 
A horse has been known to stand all day in the hot 



164 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

desert sun to protect from the hot rays his master who 
has been overcome and is lying beneath him. The 
Arabian horse is, also, very fleet and enduring. The 
Percherons have many of these characteristics, perhaps 
to a less degree. 

In France the women and children have most of the 
care of the horses. They, too, are kind to their horses. 
There they are broken when one year old, but given 
very light work until they are old enough to market. 
Many are shipped to America each year. The heavy 
coach work in France developed in our modern Per- 
cherons strength combined with a certain amount of 
speed. They are now quite active for such a heavy 
breed. Their color in previous years was more common- 
ly gray. Now nearly all are black or dark brown. 
They have somewhat smaller legs and feet than Shires 
and Clydesdales. 

Coach Horses. — In this country the French coach, 
German coach, and Cleveland bay are, perhaps, most 
common. They are all medium in size, weighing from 
1,200 to 1,600 pounds. 

They are round and beautiful in form, with rather 
long, well-arched necks , and well-shaped heads. They are 
quite long in the legs, which makes them desirable for 
road work. They are also strong enough to pull heavy 
carriages and coaches. The coach horses are, per- 
haps, the most beautiful in form of all horses. 

Roadster, or Light Horses. — This class includes the 
Kentucky saddle-horses, the English running horse called 
thoroughbred, the American trotter, and many other 
horses light in weight. This class of horses differs from 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE FARM 165 

the draft type in having long, thin necks, narrow chests, 
narrow, sloping shoulders, rather long backs, and long 
legs. To be speedy a horse must have the legs fairly 
close together and long enough to take good strides. 
Then they must be covered with hard, strong muscles 
and tendons. They have a more highly developed ner- 
vous system to put the muscles in rapid action. 

The English have developed the running horse, while 
the Americans have brought out the trotters. Wild 
horses either walked or galloped. Trotting, then, is an 
artificial gait. By selecting the fastest trotters for breed- 
ing purposes year after year, the time required for going 
a given distance has been greatly reduced. Our best 
trotters can now go one mile in a few seconds over two 
minutes. The American trotter is not a distinct breed 
of horses. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CATTLE 

The cow belongs to the same order as the horse, both 
having hoofs on the feet. The horse, however, belongs 
to the genus Equus, while the genus or group to which 
the cow belongs is called Bos. This genus also includes 
the humped cattle of India and the European and Ameri- 
can buffalo, the latter being more properly called Bison. 

Cattle have gone through much the same process of de- 
velopment during past ages as have horses. Like horses, 
they walk on the tips of their toes. In front this is 
what corresponds to that part of your finger from the 
end to the first joint, while behind it is the first segment 
of your toe. The cow now has but two toes upon 
which she walks. Her remote ancestors had four. Two 
of these have become rudimentary and are attached 
one on each side a few inches above the hoof. They are 
now called dewclaws, and are too small and too high up 
to be of any use. 

The bony framework of the cow is quite like that of 
the horse. Unlike the horse, she has no front teeth on 
the upper jaw. When you feed the horse an apple he 
uses his strong upper lip to bring it between his teeth. 
Then he cuts it in two with his sharp front teeth. The 
cow runs out her tongue, draws in the apple, and crushes 
it. When she eats grass, she winds her strong tongue 
about it and pulls it off. 

i66 



CATTLE 167 

Some cows have horns and some do not. It is sup- 
posed that a few centuries ago all had horns. When in 
a wild state they needed horns to protect themselves 
from wild beasts. The cow cannot strike with her 
fore feet as does a fighting horse, neither can she kick 
with both hind feet at once. She cannot run as fast as 
some other animals. Her horns were, therefore, her best 
protection. 

Wild cattle roamed about the plains of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa in earlier times. There are said to have been 
none on this continent when America was discovered by 
Columbus. They traveled about in herds under the 
leadership of the strongest bull. When a younger bull 
would become strong enough to fight and kill the former 
leader he would become the acknowledged king of the 
herd. 

Nearly all cattle are now domesticated. There are 
still a few herds of wild cattle preserved in forest parks 
owned by English noblemen. These are white in color, 
with black noses and black tips on the horns and ears. 
They are smaller than our domestic cattle. 

The cattle in our own herds have been domesticated 
and under the control of man for many generations 
back, yet they still retain many of their wild traits. 

If a strange dog enters a field where cattle are graz- 
ing, all will unite in self-protection to chase him out. 
If a young calf is caught it will bleat long and loud and 
the herd will rush from some distance away to protect it. 
When a calf is born in some open tract the mother 
secretes it in the bushes or some place out of sight. 
Later she goes away to graze, satisfied that nothing will 



1 68 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

discover it. The calf will not rise until the mother 
returns to feed it. If perchance some one passes near 
by, it will stretch out its neck close to the ground and 
remain motionless until after the seeming danger is 
past. 

Since cattle have been under the control of man, there 
have come about marked changes in size, form, and 
function. The little fawn Jersey cow, weighing 700 
pounds, is so different from her big Shorthorn cousin, 
weighing 1,600 pounds, we can hardly realize that mod- 
ern breeds of cattle come from the same source. Our 
different breeds have been developed in different coun- 
tries, where climate, food supply, and different methods 
of management have all contributed to produce the va- 
riations we now have. 

Kinds of Cattle. — Our modern cattle may be divided 
into two classes: (i) those of mixed breeding and un- 
known ancestry; and (2) those of pure breeding and 
known ancestry. Our common cattle are usually a 
mixture of different breeds. It is not considered worth 
while to keep a record of the ancestry of this common 
kind. 

By the term thoroughbred, full-blood, or pure bred, 
is meant those animals which have been bred without 
the admixture of outside blood. Such animals are 
usually registered; that is, their names are recorded in 
the association books together with the names of their 
ancestors on both sides for several generations back. 
Such animals command higher prices because their 
breeding is known. The better the ancestry the more 
valuable is the animal. 



CATTLE 



169 









r^.S^' ^I' o'^^^,t5^°^r ?" ^^^ .^*^^^ h^s the typical dairy form She has 
produced 1,843 lbs. of butter in five years. She is a Terse v cow wp.V^ 

\7J'°it- ■ ^^t ™^^^" "°^ ^^ ^ P^^« Shorthorn Sf the duTpurp?se 



Cattle are again divided into three classes, according 
to their usefulness to man. 

(i) The beef breeds, or those which fatten readily 
and produce a good quality of beef, but are not heavy 
milkers: as Herefords, Galloways, Aberdeen- Angus, and 
some Shorthorns and Polled Durhams. 

(2) The dairy breeds, or those which are valuable 
for their milk, but not very good for their meat: as the 
Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, and Holstein. 

(3) The dual-purpose breeds, or those which are 
fairly good for both: as the Red Polled, Devon, Brown 
Swiss, and some Shorthorns and Polled Durhams. 

Beef Cattle.— If we compare our modern breeds of 
beef cattle with the specimens which existed a century 



I/O NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

ago, we find marked improvement. Systematic effort 
to improve beef cattle began about two centuries ago. 
Probably more has been accomplished within the past 
century than during all previous time. 

Great Britain deserves nearly all the credit for this 
improvement. From ungainly cattle, which we would 
now call "scrubs," the people of England have given 
us the beautiful present-day Shorthorns and Herefords, 
and the Scotchman the smooth Aberdeen-Angus and 
curly-coated Galloway. 

Abundant food supply, good climate, and wise selec- 
tion in breeding have transformed these coarse, slow- 
feeding, late-maturing animals into smooth, blocky, 
easy-keeping, and early-maturing animals. It seems 
remarkable that so much could be accomplished in but 
a single century. 

In all our beef breeds to-day we strive for certain 
qualities which together make the ideal animal. In 
these qualities we keep in mind the demands of the 
buyer and consumer, who want the largest possible pro- 
portion of the choicest meat with the least waste; and 
of the feeder, who finds it desirable to have animals 
which make the largest possible gains for food consumed. 

The ideal beef animal, then, is one which has, first of 
all, sufficient size to make him profitable to the feeder. 
He should also have a vigorous constitution, as indicated 
by the large, open nostrils for breathing, a full, thick 
neck, wide and deep chest, i. e., wide on top just behind 
the shoulder blades, and wide between the fore legs. 
Then he should have good digestion and assimilation. 
If there is a good, active circulation of blood, food will 



CATTLE 171 

be thoroughly assimilated and good gains made. A soft, 
pliable skin, soft, glossy hair, and bright eye indicate a 
good circulation of blood and good health. 

The older an animal becomes, the more food is re- 
quired to produce a pound of gain. Beef animals 
must be fat when sold, to be profitable. Some animals 
cannot be made fat, no matter how heavily fed, until 
they are three years old. Others on the same feed can 
be made fat enough for the market when but two years 
old, or even younger. Such animals naturally mature 
earlier. In form they are short in the legs, broad, 
thick, and deep in body, and rather fine in bone. The 
short, broad head is another indication of early maturity. 
The steer with a long, narrow head, long, slim neck, 
long legs, coarse bones, is late maturing and slow to 
fatten. 

To suit the buyers of fat cattle the beef animal should 
have a broad back and good width behind. Then when 
he fattens he will have a larger proportion of the choice 
meat. The high-priced roast beef comes from the front 
part of the back, from the shoulders to the last rib, and 
the very choice porterhouse and sirloin steak from the 
last rib to a point just behind the hip bones. The 
round steak, which is a little below the sirloin in price, 
comes from the thigh. The meat from the upper half 
of the animal is worth about three times as much per 
pound as the meat on the lower half, so you will see 
why wide backs and full hind quarters are wanted. 

The Shorthorns. — This breed has also been called 
Durham, because it was started in Durham County, 
England, about two hundred years ago. They are now 



72 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 56. Shorthorn cows in pasture. 



called Shorthorns, because their horns are short. There 
are more animals of this breed in America than of any 
other. They were first shipped here from England 
about one hundred years ago. 

The Shorthorns are the largest of our beef breeds. 
The bulls sometimes weigh as much as 2,800 pounds and 
the cows as high as 2,000. The average would be 500 
or 600 pounds less than these figures. 

In color many are solid red, others are red with white 
markings, some are roan, i. e., red and white mixed to- 
gether, and a few are white. The Shorthorn is the only 
beef breed which is not uniform in color. They also 
differ widely in their capacity to give milk. Some give 
twenty quarts of milk per day, and others not more than 
eight quarts. This is because some of the early Short- 
horn men bred for milk as well as beef, while others bred 
for beef and paid little attention to the quantity of milk 
given. 



CATTLE ly^ 

The Shorthorns are quiet in disposition and make 
good gains when well fed. They are not able to stand 
so much cold, disagreeable weather as some breeds, be- 
cause their skin is thinner and they have a lighter coat 
of hair. 

It would be difficult to find any t-reed which excels 
the Shorthorns as a general-purpose breed for the farmer. 
Polled Durhams.— The double-standard Polled Dur- 
ham is a pure Shorthorn without horns. It happened 
that a Shorthorn calf was born and never developed 
horns. This was a freak of nature. That calf was the 
foundation of most modern Polled Durhams. They are 
called double standard because they can be registered 
both as Shorthorns and as Polled Durhams. Single- 
standard Polled Durhams contain some blood of the 
common red muley cow and are not pure Shorthorns. 

The double-standard Polled Durhams are in much 
greater favor. What was said concerning Shorthorns ap- 
plies to this breed also, except thatthis breed hasno horns. 
The Herefords. — This breed is named from the county 
of Hereford in central England, where it was started 
about two hundred years ago. Some of the cattle which 
were early used in forming this breed were solid red in 
color while others were white. This would give red and 
white animals. It is supposed a white-faced breed 
called the Flemish cattle were also used, and this 
tended to fix permanently the white face in all the cattle 
of the breed. Modern Herefords are red, with white on 
the face, along the top and bottom of the neck, on the 
under side of the body, and on the feet and legs. The 
red varies from light to dark. 



74 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig 



57. Hereford bull. Age, 2 years 4 months. Weight, 1,600 lbs. 



In size they are a little smaller than the Shorthorns. 
They are not considered heavy milkers. Their inclina- 
tion is to make a little food go a long way in the produc- 
tion of beef. Most Herefords are easy keepers and quiet 
in disposition. 

They have thick skin and hair, and are therefore able 
to stand more cold and exposure than any other breed, 
except the Galloways. Their thick skin also protects 
them from the hot sun's rays. They are hardy and 
active in habits. These qualities combined make the 
Herefords unusually well adapted to range conditions 
in the West and Southwest. 

Aberdeen-Angus. — This breed also derives its name 
from the counties where started. The original home of 
the Aberdeen-Angus was in the counties of Aberdeen 
and Forfar, northeast Scotland. Forfar County was 



CATTLE 



175 




Fig. 58. Aberdeen-Angus cows. 



formerly called Angus. The farmers in that locality 
are very skillful feeders, and they have succeeded in 
developing a very choice beef breed. 

One hundred years ago a large number of these cattle 
had horns. Now they are all polled or hornless. The 
Scotchmen early found that the cattle without horns 
were more quiet when herded together and less trou- 
blesome while being driven to the pastures. They 
selected for breeding purposes, then, only those without 
horns. This practice continued, after several years 
has finally given us a breed free from horns. 

The Angus cattle are uniformly solid black. Occa- 
sionally one will have a white mark on forehead or under 
side of body. They have no horns, and are therefore 
easy to handle in the feed lot. In size they average 
a little smaller than the Herefords, are usually 



176 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

compact in build, and naturally mature early, probably 
earlier than any other breed. 

They are easy to fatten, and when ready for market 
the steers make excellent carcasses of beef because the 
fat is usually well mixed with the lean. They are a little 
more shy than Shorthorns and Herefords, probably 
because they have in the past been handled less. As 
milkers they are fully equal to Herefords, but not so 
good as Shorthorns. 

Galloways. — This is also a Scotch breed, coming from 
the southern part of that country. In many respects 
they are quite similar to the Angus. Both are hornless 
and solid black in color. The Galloways are some 
smaller and have long, wavy hair. They are also more 
flat on top of the head. 

The Galloways having been reared in the mountain- 
ous district in southern Scotland, where the weather 
is cold and rainy, have developed a long, heavy coat of 
hair. This makes them well suited for our northern 
states. Like the Herefords they are also good grazers. 

The Dairy Breeds. — A good dairy cow is one which 
will give a large quantity of rich milk for a long period 
of time. She must also be easy to milk and gentle to 
handle. If she has a tendency to convert part of her 
food into flesh, she is not an economical milk-pro- 
ducer. 

Dairy cows, then, should be thin in flesh, even 
when well fed. It has been found that our best 
dairy cows are built something as follows : in form they 
are wedge-shaped, narrow in front, widening out be- 
hind, and very deep through the hind quarter. The 



CATTLE 177 

dairy cow consumes a great deal of hay and grass, and 
therefore must have a large digestive capacity. 

Her head is long and narrow, her neck long and slen- 
der, her backbone, ribs, and hip bones prominent, her 
thighs thin, giving plenty of room for a large, evenly 
quartered udder. The milk vein running from the 
udder forward on the underside of body should be large. 

Holstein. — This is our oldest breed of cattle. It is 
said that the people in Holland have had these black 
and white cattle for nearly two thousand years. 

The little country of Holland is low, much of its 
territory having been reclaimed from the sea by the 
building of dikes or embankments which keep the tide 
back. This low, rich ground yields succulent grasses 
and other crops which dairy cows relish, and from which 
there is obtained a large flow of milk. 

Then, too, the native Hollanders are very pains- 
taking in their care of animals. In many instances the 
cows are stabled in a part of the house. But this 
is not so strange as it sounds, for they are very careful 
to keep the stalls clean and tidy at all times. What a 
comfort it would be to some of our American cows, 
which are made to stand all day in unclean and uncom- 
fortable stalls, if they could have such places as are 
provided in Holland. 

The people of Holland have bred their cattle for milk 
alone. They are to-day our heaviest milkers, but the 
milk is less rich than Jersey milk. A few Holstein cows 
have given as high as forty quarts per day when fresh. 
Thirty quarts per day is not unusual. 

They are the largest of all dairy breeds. Some cows 



1/8 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

weigh as high as i,8oo pounds, but probably 1,300 
pounds would be an average. They are not very satis- 
factory for beef purposes, although most farmers prefer a 
Holstein steer to a Jersey. 

Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney. — Just across the 
English Channel, south of England and west of France, 
there are three small islands called Jersey, Guernsey, 
and Alderney. The first is largest, being about ten 
miles long and five wide. On these three little islands 
there have been developed the breeds of dairv cattle 
named from the islands. 

The inhabitants of these islands, like the Hollanders, 
are very skillful in their management of cattle. An 
abundance of food is provided. Warm quarters are 
also furnished, because dairy cows need warm, 
well-ventilated buildings. They carry no surplus 
fat, and therefore do not have the protection beef cattle 
have. 

• The island of Jersey has a population of about fifty 
thousand people, which means nearly one thousand to 
the square mile. They practice very intensive farming, 
producing vegetables and dairy products principally. 
They keep only the very best cows and prohibit coming 
on the island any foreign cattle, except those which are 
to be used for meat. 

We have in America many of these cows, whose an- 
cestors came from Jersey Island. In color they vary 
from light fawn to a very dark brown. They are small 
in size, many not weighing over 700 pounds. No cow 
produces richer milk than the Jersey. They are valua- 
ble, then, for butter. In disposition they are quiet. 



CATTLE 



179 



which makes them popular for the city man who keeps 
but one cow and has but little feed. 

It is unfortunate that they are inclined to be narrow- 
chested, therefore rather weak in constitution, and 
more likely to become diseased. They have never been 
selected with reference to constitution, as have beef 
cattle, which accounts for this weakness. 

Guernseys. — The Guernseys are a little larger and 
coarser than the Jerseys, but in other respects they are 
very similar, as are also the Alderneys. The last two 
are not very numerous in America. 

Ayrshire. — The Ayrshire cattle are more or less 
spotted in color and a little larger in size than Jerseys. 
They come from the county of Ayr, Scotland. They are 
not so good for milk as Jerseys, but better for beef, 
the Jerseys being very inferior for beef. 

Dual-Purpose Breeds. — "Dual" means two, so the 
dual-purpose cow is one which is suitable for both dairy 
and beef purposes. Such cows are popular with farm- 
ers because they can be milked with profit and their 
calves will bring fair prices for beef. It is impossible, 
however, to have cows which excel in both respects. 
Such cows are less valuable for milk than dairy cows, 
and less valuable for feeding than the beef breeds. 

In form, dual-purpose cows are about midway between 
beef and dairy type. They are quite narrow in front 
and rather spare in flesh. 

Red Polled. — This breed was developed in England. 
As the name implies, they are polled, or hornless, and 
red in color. In size, they are rather small, the cows 
weighing about 1,100 pounds. They feed into beef 



l8o NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

fairly well and make a good quality of meat. Red 
Polls in our eastern states are better milkers, but not 
so good for beef as those in the West. 

Shorthorns and Polled Durhams. — These breeds were 
described under beef cattle. Some specimens are good 
dual-purpose cattle, while others are strictly for beef 
purposes. The milking Shorthorns are, perhaps, more 
in popular favor than any other breed. They have 
size, fatten quite readily, and are good milkers. 

Devon. — This breed is small and dark red in color. 
They have large horns. In many respects they are 
quite like the Red Polls. They are not numerous in 
the West. 

Brown Swiss. — This breed comes from Switzerland, 
where cheesemaking is an important industry. The 
Swiss farmers railk their cows, work them in the fields, 
and when past their prime for milk they fatten them 
for beef. They are, then, what might be called triple- 
purpose. The Swiss people are careful not to overwork 
their cows. One animal usually works but half of the day. 

In color. Brown Swiss are a little darker than a mouse. 
In size, they are heavier than Red Polls, but not so large 
as Shorthorns. Having been brought up to work, they 
have developed strong, heavy bones and heavy shoul- 
ders. This makes them somewhat coarse for high-class 
beef. They are very active and vigorous. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

SWINE 

The pig, like its remote ancestors, and like its rela- 
tive, the hippopotamus, is fond of wallowing in mud 
and water. The pig has changed less in past ages than 
other domestic animals. It is still fond of flesh and has 
teeth suited for tearing flesh. Like the cow it once had 
four toes, the two outer ones being still present, but too 
high from the ground to be of any use. 

Our modern breeds of swine are supposed to come 
from wild hogs. In their bony framework they are 
quite the same as wild hogs now living. Domestication 
has shortened the snout and legs and made the animal 
less muscular. The habits are also different. The wild 
boar travels about in the night in search of food, hiding 
in thickets during the day. He is nearly always 
found alone. If suddenly surprised by a hunter on 
horseback, he darts out of his hiding-place and leads the 
horse a fast race. They are so fleet that few horses or 
dogs can keep pace with them. They are usually 
hunted by several men on horses accompanied by 
packs of dogs. When cornered they fight hard, using 
their long tusks to good advantage. 

The wild boar has long bristles, a thick neck, heavy 
shoulders, and small hams. Wild hogs are usually 
dark brown or sandy in color, so they will be less notice- 
able when hiding among the dead leaves and on brown 

i8i 



1 82 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

soil. The young have stripes of a lighter color running 
lengthwise of the back. The mothers are very attentive 
to their young, protecting them long after they are 
weaned. 

Under domestication the hog has become quiet in 
disposition and has formed the habit of putting on flesh 
when well fed. He is still fond of rooting in the ground. 

As in the case of the cattle, probably most credit 
should be given the Englishmen for the improvement 
in swine. Yet much of the improvement accomplished 
in England was due to the introduction of foreign hogs, 
as for example, the old Chinese breeds. An abundance 
of food with intelligent management has transformed 
the pig from a rough, ungainly animal to the round, 
fat animal we have to-day. 

Modern hogs are now divided into two classes: (i) 
those best adapted to the production of fat meat, called 
fat or block hogs; and (2) those best adapted to the 
production of lean meat, called bacon hogs. 

Of the former class those most common in America 
are the Berkshires, Poland Chinas, Duroc Jerseys, and 
Chester Whites. The general form of these four breeds 
is quite alike. In good flesh they are short and thick 
in the neck, broad over the shoulders, back, and hips; 
wide and deep in the chest, full in the hams, and short in 
the legs. All fatten readily. 

Berkshires.— This breed was started in Berkshire 
County, England. In early times some were black, 
some red, and some white. Now all are black with 
white markings on the face, feet, and tip of tail. They 
have a short, turned-up nose and erect ears. They 



SWINE 



83 




Pig. 59. Young Berkshire 



are excellent feeders and dress well when killed. Ten 
pigs in one litter is not unusual for Berkshires. They are 
somewhat shy in disposition, and therefore less easily 
handled than some other breeds. 

Poland China.— This breed was started in Butler and 
Warren counties, Ohio, by a class of people called 
Shakers. The native hogs found in that section are 
thought to have come from Poland. There was intro- 
duced later different strains of hogs from other places, 
such as the Byfield, Irish Grazier, the Big China, and 
Berkshire. 

They are black in color with considerably more white 
than Berkshires have. They have a rather long, straight 
nose and ears erect from base to middle and drooping 
from the middle to tips. 

The Poland Chinas are quite similar to Berkshires. 



84 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 6o. Poland China sows. 



They will fatten at an earlier age, and are more quiet in 
disposition. They have been reared in the corn-belt, 
where not much except corn is fed. The lack of mineral 
matter and albumen in corn has made them small in 
bone and rather inferior breeders. Poland Chinas 
often produce only five to seven pigs in a litter. 

Duroc-Jerseys. — This is also an American breed. 
They are called Duroc-Jerseys, because they are a union 
of two red breeds of swine — the Durocs from Saratoga 
County, New York, and the Jersey Reds from New 
Jersey. In size they are about like the Berkshires and 
Poland Chinas. In color they vary from light to dark 
red. 

They have more bone than the Poland Chinas, and are 
better able to stand heavy corn feeding. They are more 



SWINE 



185 




Fig. 61. Tamwofth brood sows. Bacon type. 



productive, sometimes producing as high as twelve pigs 
m a htter. The Duroc-Jerseys require a Httle more time 
for fattening on account of being somewhat coarser than 
Berkshires and Poland Chinas. They are well suited for 
pasturing in fields. 

Chester Whites.— This breed was started in Chester 
County, Pennsylvania. In color they are solid white. 
They are larger than the three former breeds, but later 
in maturing. During extremely warm weather they 
suffer from heat, because they have thin skins. They 
produce larger litters than do Poland Chinas. 

Bacon Hogs. — This class is most common in England 
and Canada. During recent years there has grown a 
strong demand for pork in the form of bacon. Bacon 
is made from the side meat and should be lean rather 
than fat. The bacon hogs, as we now have them, are 



1 86 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

long from the shoulder to ham and very deep. The hams 
and shoulders are small. These hogs, when fed, take 
on less fat and more lean. Where the common lard 
hog has a two-inch layer of fat on the outside the bacon 
hog has only about one inch. 

Tamworths. — These hogs came from Tamworth, 
England. They are larger than the breeds already 
described, excepting the Chester Whites. They have 
long noses, long ears, are narrow in the head and neck, 
and long and narrow in body, and long in the legs. 
They are also quite heavy in the bone and like Chester 
Whites and Duroc Jerseys are well adapted for grazing 
in the field. They are also very productive. As 
feeders, they are about equal to the other breeds. 

Large Yorkshires. — This breed also has the bacon 
form. They differ from Tamworths in that they are 
solid white in color, with turned-up snouts and shorter 
legs. They are less productive and somewhat more 
inchned to fatten when heavilv fed. 



CHAPTER XIX 

SHEEP 

Wild sheep have inhabited Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America. In America they are called the Rocky- 
Mountain, or Bighorn sheep. All wild sheep prefer 
high land or mountainous districts. Our modern breeds 
still shun low, wet ground. 

Sheep have been domesticated since very early times. 
They have been improved under man's care by the 
same methods that have been used with other classes of 
live stock. 

All sheep may be placed into two classes : ( i ) mutton 
breeds and (2) wool breeds. The former class includes 
all breeds except the Merinos. A more common classi- 
fication is made with reference to the coarseness of their 
wool. The fine- wool breeds include the Spanish Merino, 
American Merino, Delaine Merino, and Rambouillet, 
or French Merino. The medium wools, or down breeds, 
include the Shropshire, Southdown, Hampshire, Ox- 
ford, Cheviot, Dorset-horned, and Tunis. The coarse 
wools are the Lincoln, Leicester, and Cotswold. 

The Spanish ^Merino is the foundation of all the 
Merino breeds. These were originally small in size, and 
sheared small fleeces of very fine wool. About one 
hundred years ago a few were shipped from Spain to 
America, where with our better food and skill they have 
developed into a sheep having greater size and longer 

187 



i88 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



and heavier wool. These are called the American 
Merinos. Many of them are covered with wrinkles, 
others have heavy wrinkles on the neck with a smooth 
body, which makes more surface for wool. When ma- 
ture they weigh from 90 to 1 50 pounds. They sometimes 
shear as high as thirty pounds of wool, much of which 
weight is oil. They are not desirable for mutton pur- 
poses. 

Delaine Merino. — This is an offshoot of the American 
Merino, being larger and better for mutton, having but 
few wrinkles and longer wool, and well suited for making 
delaine goods, a fine grade of cloth. 

Rambouillet. — These sheep were developed in France 
from the Spanish Merino. They are the largest of all 
fine-wool breeds, producing a long, heavy fleece of wool 
and fairly good mutton. 

Shropshire. — Among the down breeds the Shropshires 




Fig. 62, Cross-bred Shropshire Merino ewes, 
in center are pure -bred Shropshires. 



The black-faced pair 



SHEEP 189 

are most common in America. They were developed in 
Shropshire County, England, where with rich and 
abundant food they have become valuable for mutton 
purposes. 

Mature Shropshires weigh from 150 to 250 pounds. 
In form, like other mutton breeds, they are broad and 
deep. They have black faces and black feet and legs. 
Their wool is coarser in texture than Merino wool, but 
quite free from oil. A Shropshire fleece will weigh from 
seven to twelve pounds. 

The Southdowns are quite similar, except that they 
are a little smaller in size and have lighter colored faces. 
They are also a little finer in bone. The Hampshires 
and Oxfords are also similar, but larger and coarser than 
Shropshires. The Dorset-horned have heavy horns 
and a shorter, denser fleece than the Oxfords. 

The Cheviots have a more open fleece, and, like the 
Dorset s, have white faces and white legs. They come 
from the Cheviot Hills in Scotland. All the others come 
from England. 

The coarse-wool breeds are all larger than Shrop- 
shires, the Lincoln weighing as high as 300 pounds in 
some instances. The Cotswolds are about twenty-five 
pounds lighter than the Lincolns and the Leicesters 
about fifty pounds Hghter. All have long, coarse wool, 
suited for combing purposes. Such wool is valuable 
for carpets. 

The fine- wool breeds have a short wool fiber which 
makes their wool more suitable for carding purposes. 
Woolen clothes are made from this short, fine wool, 
which is not woven in rows, but felted together in a 



190 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

mass. Wool felts readily because each fiber is a tube 
covered with small scales like shingles on a house. 
This makes them adhere together, whereas hair which is 
smooth would not do so. 

Sheep are sheared early each summer, the wool tied 
in bundles, and sent to the dealers. It is there washed, 
scoured, and sorted into classes before being manufac- 
tured into woolen goods. 

Sheep are very timid animals and should be handled 
quietly. They are valuable for keeping fields free from 
weeds. 



CHAPTER XX 

HOW TO CARE FOR LIVE STOCK 

From what has already been said concerning the 
development of our breeds of stock, we learn that 
improvement has been brought about by furnishing an 
abundance of good food, comfortable quarters, and by 
selecting for breeding purposes the best specimens. 

If we fail to give these improved animals as good care 
as they have had in the past, they will become worse 
instead of better. The value of our animals then will 
depend on the care we give them. To be most useful 
and profitable, all animals should have an abundance of 
food. It takes about one-half of a full feed to keep the 
animal machinery going, i. e., to keep the heart beating 
and other organs acting. The other half of the food 
given would go to produce beef in the fattening steer, 
milk in the dairy cow, pork in the pig, mutton or wool 
in the sheep, and work in the horse. The animal is like 
the steam engine in that it requires a certain amount of 
fuel to get up steam, the rest to produce work. It is 
therefore, wasteful to feed less than the animal can use. 
This does not always mean all the grain that can be 
digested. If the animal is not being fitted for market, 
perhaps he should have a larger proportion of hay, 
because it is cheaper. But he should always have all 
that he wishes, hay and grain in right proportions, with- 
out overfeeding to dull the appetite. 

191 



192 NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

If we feed the animal nothing but corn, he gets too 
much starch and not enough albumen. Corn is our best 
and cheapest food for animals, but it will go further 
if fed with some food containing plenty of albumen, like 
alfalfa or clover hay, wheat bran or shorts, oil meal or 
milk. For cattle or sheep, corn and alfalfa or clover is 
perhaps best, since these hay plants contain albumen 
and have sufficient bulk to make these animals chew 
their cuds. 

A cow has four stomachs, holding in all about fifty 
quarts. In her first large stomach she stores the food 
she gathers during the day, then at night or while at 
rest she brings it up again to chew over before it goes 
on to the other stomachs. This is her natural way, 
and if she is deprived of grass or other bulky food she 
is uneasy, and perhaps becomes sick. Sheep also have 
four stomachs, and their demands are like those of the 
cow. When wild hay or straw is given for bulk, then 
something like bran or oil meal should be given with 
corn, because wild hay is starchy and lacks albumen. 

The pig has only one stomach, and that very small. 
He should have mostly grain, which might be largely 
corn with skim milk, shorts, or a little alfalfa or clover. 

The work horse prefers oats and corn. Both are good , 
because considerable starch and oil are needed to furnish 
energy to drive the muscles. Clover and alfalfa are apt 
to be too dusty for horses, causing heaves. 

All young animals need more albumen, because, while 
they grow, more bone and lean tissue are being formed. 
Whole milk is nature's food for the young animal, and 
is the most perfect. Milk contains much albumen. 



HOW TO CARE FOR LIVE STOCK I93 

Shelter. — Some kinds of animals need more shelter 
than others. The fattening steer has enough fat under 
its skin to keep it warm even during cold weather. 
His food also furnishes a great deal of heat, because very- 
starchy. In this climate a shed open on the south side 
is warm enough for him. The thin steer needs a little 
more warmth, and the dairy cow needs careful hous- 
ing. She carries but little fat and should be given a 
warm place during winter. The brood sow needs more 
warmth than the fat hog, for the same reason. Pigs 
have less hair than cattle and need better housing. 

Horses also need warm stables unless they have been 
out doors long enough to develop heavy coats of hair. 
Sheep have a heavy coat of wool and need little housing, 
just a roof to keep them dry and a good windbreak. 
Young lambs need a warm place. All animals shotdd 
have clean water and some salt. Regularity of feeding 
and dry beds are also essential. 

Our domestic animals are God's creatures, just as we 
are. They are often larger and more powerful than 
man, but of lower intelligence. They are placed under 
our charge to be our servants and we their protectors. 
In the wild state they could roam about at will and 
protect themselves. Under domestication they are 
entirely at our mercy. We are expected to see them 
well cared for and not abused. They in turn do our 
work and furnish us with clothing and food. He who 
starves a helpless creature is a criminal of the worst 
kind. The man who loses his temper and beats his 
dumb animals puts himself on a level with brutes. The 



194 



NEW ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



poor, shivering horse, unblanketed and tied to a post 
on a cold winter's day, is an object of pity. The owner 
of such an animal is a violater of the law and should 
be reported and punished. Our dumb animals do not 
have our pleasures in life ; let us at" least see that they are 
always comfortable. 




OCl 5 1903 



LIBKAKV OF CONGRESS 




